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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 2009 - 2014 Committee on Petitions 30.1.2013 NOTICE TO MEMBERS Subject: 1. Petition 0944/2012 by H.M. (Polish), bearing 11 co-signatures, on transport infrastructure problems in the town of Plock in central Poland Summary of petition The petitioner refers to the poor transport infrastructure in the town of Plock in central Poland. Plock is an extremely important centre for fuel and energy production and the home of one of the largest eastern European oil refineries and petrochemical works belonging to the Polish oil group ‘Orlen’. The problems with the transport infrastructure mean that large amounts of dangerous substances are transported by road and rail through densely-populated areas and across the only rail bridge over the river Vistula, and also that emergency services and fire brigade will not be able to arrive in time in the event of industrial accidents. The petitioner emphasises that modernisation of the existing transport network and new motorways are absolute priorities, partly in order to protect the environment and partly to improve safety for the local population, and as the actions of the Polish authorities have up to now been unsatisfactory, he asks the European Parliament to intervene. 2. Admissibility Declared admissible on 14 November 2012. Information requested from Commission under Rule 202(6). 3. Commission reply, received on 30 January 2013 In accordance with cohesion policy regulations, assistance (under cohesion policy) is provided according to the shared management principle and in line with the approach of complementarity and partnership between the Commission and the Member States, with due regard for their respective powers. In this context, and on the basis of the principle of CM\925909EN.doc EN PE504.292v01-00 United in diversity EN subsidiarity, the implementation of co-financed actions is the responsibility of the Member States, at the most appropriate territorial level and according to the institutional system of each Member State. This means that the Commission does not intervene in the selection of the projects (except for major projects above EUR 50 million and projects co-financed under the Cohesion Fund 2000-2006), as this comes under the competence of the national authorities, provided that their choices are in line with the priorities identified in the programming documents adopted in consultation with the Commission, and that they comply with current legislation. Regarding the possibilities of Structural Funds to support the investment needs described in the petition, the Commission would like to draw attention to the fact that in the 2014-2020 period Płock will continue to benefit from cohesion policy support to boost the development of its area in many respects. As Płock is located in the Mazowsze region, it will qualify for the category of more developed regions in the next period. Structural Funds' support is to be concentrated mostly on energy efficiency and renewable energy, SME competitiveness, innovation and the information society. Therefore, with good cooperation from both regional and national authorities, Płock will still have the opportunity to benefit from EU support. Conclusion Following the argumentation in the petition, and based on the information submitted by the petitioner, the Commission services cannot identify any breach of EU Law; spatial planning is the responsibility of the Member State authorities to whom the petitioner has submitted similar inquiries. If the petitioner considers that the decisions taken by the national managing authorities have been detrimental to the citizens of Plock city, he can use the rights of appeal available at national level to obtain redress. PE504.292v01-00 EN 2/2 CM\925909EN.doc