European Parliament : Notice to members - Petition No 0059/2017 by Ismael Antonio López Pérez (Spanish) on the Lousame tungsten mine in Galicia - PE 615.341v01-00 - Committee on Petitions

European Parliament

2014-2019

Committee on Petitions

29.11.2017

NOTICE TO MEMBERS

Subject:Petition No 0059/2017 by Ismael Antonio López Pérez (Spanish) on the Lousame tungsten mine in Galicia

1.

Summary of petition

The petitioner claims that no information was made public, nor were public consultations held, before the reopening of the tungsten mine in Lousame. The petitioner says that the reopening of the mine puts the San Fins River at a high risk of pollution.

2.

Admissibility

Declared admissible on 31 May 2017. Information requested from Commission under Rule 216(6).

3.

Commission reply, received on 29 November 2017

The Commission notes that the EIA Directive1 provides for review procedures before a court of law or another independent and impartial body to challenge the substantive or procedural legality of decisions issued in the context of an environmental impact assessment procedure. Moreover, the Commission has been unable to identify in this case any issue of wider principle, sufficient evidence of a general practice, or a systematic failure to comply with EU law.

Conclusions

Given that the Member States have the primary responsibility for transposing, applying and implementing EU law correctly and have to provide sufficient remedies to ensure effective

1 Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment Text with EEA relevance - OJ L 26, 28.1.2012, p. 1-21.

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United in diversity

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legal protection in the fields covered by EU law1, and in view of the redress mechanisms laid down by the EIA Directive in this type of cases, the Commission does not intend to give any further follow-up to this petition.

1 Communication from the Commission - EU law: Better results through better application - C/2016/8600 - OJ C 18, 19.1.2017, p. 10-20.

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