The highest administrative court in Poland has ruled that the controversial Augustow by-pass planned to cut through pristine and protected wetlands in the Rospuda Valley is illegal. But environmental groups are warning that the Polish government is trying to 're-brand' the route under a different road scheme.
The stretch of the proposed Warsaw-Helsinka Via Baltica road has been a test case in recent months for the effectiveness of EU laws on environmental protection in the 12 countries that have joined the EU since 2004.
In 2007 work began on the stretch of the road that would by-pass the town of Augustow in north-eastern Poland, but in April 2007 the European Court of Justice ordered that all works be stopped because of failings on the environmental impact assessment. The wetlands of the Rospuda river valley are a Natura 2000 site enjoying the highest level of protection under EU law, and the ECJ ruled that alternative routes for the road had not been properly considered.
Last month Poland’s highest court, the HSA, ruled that the Augustow by-pass was illegal and should be abandoned. Instead that stretch of the Via Baltica will go through the town of Lomza, an option recommended by NGOs for several years.
But if that is a victory for the campaigners, they are deeply concerned about other plans, in particular a major international route Via Carpatia that will join Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.
A statement issued by five NGOs said: ‘The Via Carpatia initiative by the Polish government includes the most controversial sections of route 8 [the original Augustow by-pass route] through the Knyszyn primeval forest, the Biebrza marshes and the Augustow primeval forest – in other words, it is effectively a ‘re-branding’ of part of the Polish government’s original route for Via Baltica.’
In addition, the Polish infrastructure ministry has proposed changes to Poland’s share of the trans-European transport network. These include a new south-north corridor along the eastern border of Poland. This would also cut through the Knyszyn Primeval Forest (a project currently the subject of a Commission infringement procedure) and would affect at least two other Natura 2000 sites (Upper Narew valley and Bug valley).
Roberg Cyglicki of CEE Bankwatch, one of the five NGOs which issued the statement, said: ‘The case is still at a critical stage. We are asking the EU to scrutinise the Polish government road infrastructure plans in the context of requirements to minimise deterioration of important areas enshrined both in EU law and the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention.’
WARNING TO EIB
In a separate development, CEE Bankwatch has warned the European Investment Bank that it risks violating international human rights and environmental conventions if it gives a loan to the Slovak government to help fund five stretches of Slovakia’s D1 motorway.
A group of 14 NGOs active in Slovakia say the five projects have been approved by Bratislava in contravention of the Amsterdam Treaty and the European Convention on Human Rights. The NGOs say the EIB is obliged to heed both national and EU laws, but if there is a clash, EU law comes first so the bank cannot rely on complying only with national legislation.
