Protocol No 4

on the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania

THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES,

DECLARING the Union's willingness to continue to provide adequate additional Community assistance to Lithuania's decommissioning effort also after Lithuania's accession to the European Union for the period until 2006 and beyond and noting that Lithuania, bearing in mind this expression of Union solidarity, has committed to close Unit 1 of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant before 2005 and Unit 2 by 2009,

RECOGNISING that the decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant with two 1500 MW RBMK-type reactor units inherited from the former Soviet Union is of an unprecedented nature and represents for Lithuania an exceptional financial burden not commensurate with the size and economic strength of the country and that this decommissioning will continue beyond the Community's current Financial Perspective,

NOTING the need to adopt implementing provisions for the additional Community assistance to address the consequences of the closure and the decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant,

NOTING that Lithuania will pay due attention to the needs of the regions most affected by the closure of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in its use of Community assistance,

DECLARING that certain measures that will be supported through public aid shall be considered as compatible with the internal market, such as the decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, and the environmental upgrading in line with the acquis and modernisation of conventional electricity production capacity needed to replace the two Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant reactors after their closure,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Acknowledging the readiness of the Union to provide adequate additional Community assistance to the efforts by Lithuania to decommission the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant and highlighting this expression of solidarity, Lithuania commits to the closure of Unit 1 of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant before 2005 and of Unit 2 of this plant by 31 December 2009 at the latest and to the subsequent decommissioning of these units.

Article 2

1. During the period 2004-2006, the Community shall provide Lithuania with additional financial assistance in support of its efforts to decommission and to address the consequences of the closure and decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (hereinafter "the Ignalina Programme").

2. Measures under the Ignalina Programme shall be decided and implemented in accordance with the provisions laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89 of 18 December 1989 on economic aid to certain countries of Central and Eastern Europe [1], as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2500/2001 [2].

3. The Ignalina Programme shall, inter alia, cover: measures in support of the decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant; measures for the environmental upgrading in line with the acquis and modernisation measures of conventional production capacity to replace the production capacity of the two Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant reactors; and other measures which are consequential to the decision to close and decommission this plant and which contribute to the necessary restructuring, environmental upgrading and modernisation of the energy production, transmission and distribution sectors in Lithuania as well as to enhancing the security of energy supply and improving energy efficiency in Lithuania.

4. The Ignalina Programme shall include measures to support plant personnel in maintaining a high level of operational safety at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in the periods prior to the closure and during the decommissioning of the said reactor units.

5. For the period 2004-2006 the Ignalina Programme shall amount to EUR 285 million in commitment appropriations, to be committed in equal annual tranches.

6. The contribution under the Ignalina Programme may, for certain measures, amount to up to 100 % of the total expenditure. Every effort should be made to continue the co-financing practice established under the pre-accession assistance for Lithuania's decommissioning effort as well as to attract co-financing from other sources, as appropriate.

7. The assistance under the Ignalina Programme, or parts thereof, may be made available as a Community contribution to the Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund, managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

8. Public aid from national, Community and international sources:

- for the environmental upgrading in line with the acquis and modernisation measures of the Lithuanian Thermal Power Plant in Elektrenai as the key replacement for the production capacity of the two Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant reactors; and

- for the decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant

shall be compatible with the internal market as defined in the EC Treaty.

9. Public aid from national, Community and international sources in support of Lithuania's efforts to address the consequences of the closure and of the decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant may, on a case by case basis, be considered to be compatible - under the EC Treaty - with the internal market, in particular public aid provided for enhancing the security of energy supply.

Article 3

1. Recognising that the decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant is of a long-term nature and represents for Lithuania an exceptional financial burden not commensurate with its size and economic strength, the Union shall, in solidarity with Lithuania, provide adequate additional Community assistance to the decommissioning effort beyond 2006.

2. The Ignalina Programme will be, for this purpose, seamlessly continued and extended beyond 2006. Implementing provisions for the extended Ignalina Programme shall be decided in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 56 of the Act of Accession and enter into force, at the latest, by the date of expiry of the current Financial Perspective.

3. The Ignalina Programme, as extended in accordance with the provisions of Article 3(2) of this Protocol, shall be based on the same elements and principles as described in Article 2 of this Protocol.

4. For the period of the next Financial Perspectives, the overall average appropriations under the extended Ignalina Programme shall be appropriate. Programming of these resources will be based on actual payment needs and absorption capacity.

Article 4

Without any prejudice to the provisions of Article 1, the general safeguard clause referred to in Article 37 of the Act of Accession shall apply until 31 December 2012 if energy supply is disrupted in Lithuania.

[1] OJ L 375, 23.12.1989, p. 11.

[2] OJ L 342, 27.12.2001, p. 1.

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