Mr De Rossa was responding to this morning's announcement by Commission President, Romano Prodi, that the Commission intends to come forward in the third quarter of 2001 with a discussion document on radioactive waste management and transport in Europe. Mr Prodi was presenting the Commission's work programme for 2001 to the European Parliament. I very much welcome the fact that the Commission has at last realised the extent of the problem about the transportation of nuclear waste across Europe and throughout the world. It is a problem with which Irish people, especially those living on the east coast are particularly aware given the proximity of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant which takes in nuclear waste from across the globe.
Radioactive waste is fundamentally an environmental problem.
Radioactive waste can never be seen as an energy issue but as a potential environmental catastrophe. The Environment DG of the Commission, led by Swedish Socialist, Margot Wallstrom, must take the lead on this issue as opposed to the more conservative approach taken by Spanish Christian Democrat, De Palacio. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.