The European Parliament,

- having regard to the motion for a resolution on the Winter

Olympic Games by Mr Puerta, Mr Gutiérrez Díaz, Mrs Domingo

Segarra and Mr Pérez Royo (B3-0853/91),

- having regard to its resolution of 12 June 1991 on the

danger to natural and semi-natural habitats in the Alps (EC

and EFTA countries) posed by the steady increase in summer

and winter tourism in these areas,

- having regard to Directive No. 85/337/EEC on the

assessment of the effects of certain public and private

projects on the environment,

- having regard to the Convention on the Alps, signed in

Salzburg on 7 November 1991,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on the

Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection and the

opinion of the Committee on Youth, Culture, Education, the

Media and Sport (A3-0058/92),

A. whereas the Olympic Games were originally confined to one

location,

B. whereas the inhabitants of both Gröden (Italian Dolomites)

and Graubünden (Switzerland) have decisively and

successfully turned down large-scale sporting events,

C. whereas development in Europe's mountain regions is pushing

at the limits of what is ecologically acceptable,

D. whereas measures for the Alps are also valid for other

mountains in Europe, such as the Pyrenees,

1. Regrets that the preparations for the 1992 Winter Olympics

in Albertville in France ignore Directive No. 85/337/EEC2

and contravene its resolution of 12 June 19911, which was

adopted unanimously, in the following areas:

(a) preparation for the 1992 Winter Olympics is not

environmentally friendly and is unacceptable in terms

of planning or social and cultural considerations;

(b) the clearing of mountain slopes to create new ski-runs

has substantially increased the risk of avalanches and

landslides in the area;

(c) the creation of ski-runs destroys any vegetation,

resulting in a drastic acceleration of erosion damage;

(d) the installation of numerous snow-making machines at

high altitudes without prior environmental impact

assessments and the operation of these machines will

in certain circumstances have a long-term negative

impact on local water management and increase the risk

of erosion;

(e) the construction or extension of multi-lane roads is

causing serious environmental damage in the valleys

concerned;

(f) although the Alps are regarded as having undergone

sufficient development, 300 000 sq.m. have been

released for further building despite the example of

Innsbrück in Austria, which shows that in certain

circumstances there is no advantage in maintaining

such installations after the Olympic Games because of

their highly uncertain profitability;

2. Calls for future Winter Olympic Games to recognize and

respect the constraints of a sustainable natural and

cultural environment;

3. Proposes that in future the Winter Olympic Games, in line

with the original Olympic tradition, should be attached to

one site that already has the appropriate infrastructure

(e.g. Albertville in France), so as to avoid the risk of

destroying other potential Winter Olympic Games sites in

future (Berchtesgaden in Germany, Aosta in Italy, Jaca in

Spain, etc.); considers that for similar reasons the idea

of a permanent site for the Summer Olympic Games should

also be examined;

4. Urges the financiers of future Winter Olympic Games, before

funding large-scale building projects, to insist that an

environmental impact assessment be carried out or to carry

it out themselves, since any long-term environmental damage

caused by such projects would harm their reputation;

5. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the

Commission, the Council and the governments and parliaments

of the Community and EFTA Member States.