A4-0242/96

Resolution on East-West cooperation activities in energy and nuclear security

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy and the opinions of the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on External Economic Relations (A4-0242/96),

A. recognizing the strategic role played by the energy sector in the European Union, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union,

B. noting that the European Union's dependence on imported energy will increase substantially over the next 25 years under present conditions,

C. noting that imported gas requirements form the largest proportion of that increasing dependence,

D. recognizing the valuable contribution that the Energy Centres in CEEC/FSU have made over the whole range of energy policies,

E. noting that there is a huge potential to reduce energy intensity, to promote energy saving and introduce renewable energies and encourage the development of combined heat and power systems and that these possibilities have a particular relevance to industry and remote areas,

F. recognizing the importance of the coal sector (both hard and brown coal) in Central and Eastern Europe, the considerable experience within the various institutions of the European Union in the restructuring of coal regions, and the technical assistance already provided by the PHARE Programme and other agencies to the coal sectors of Central Europe,

G. drawing attention to the as yet inadequate legal framework which hinders investment and international assistance,

H. recalling the concerns expressed by Parliament in previous resolutions over the standards of nuclear safety and safeguards,

I. concerned that the PHARE and TACIS programmes in the energy sector have so far failed to convince Parliament that the projects are concentrated where the needs are most urgent and the impact on the safety of nuclear energy greatest,

J. determined to promote a larger and more concentrated investment pattern by the larger institutions,

1. Calls on the Commission to establish a broadly-based group which will monitor developments in the gas industry in the European Union and in the CEEC/FSU and to ensure that the group reports periodically to the European Parliament;

2. Recognizing the significant contribution made by the EU Energy Centres, expresses its concern at the makeshift arrangements on budgets and staff contracts and calls on the Commission to review the objectives and operation of the centres and to bring forward proposals for developing the role of the centres with adequate financial resources and to submit an annual report to Parliament;

3. Considers that this initiative should be developed to form a joint oil and gas centre in Moscow, supported by Gasprom and the European Union, and that there should also be a linked activity established in the Caspian Sea area;

4. Proposes that all Energy Centres should have a wider remit to cover: energy saving, energy efficiency, renewable energies, energy measurement and management, marketing issues, pollution reduction targets, and the promotion of a reliable legal framework within which domestic and foreign investors can operate;

5. Calls for greater priority on energy within the PHARE and TACIS programmes and for a higher percentage of projects over ECU 100 000 to be devoted to energy projects, for higher priority to be given to the dissemination and evaluation of the results of these projects and for the Commission to present an annual report to Parliament's Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy and the relevant parliamentary delegations reviewing projects and progress throughout the energy sector, and calls for the setting up of a European database for disseminating and assessing the results of energy projects;

6. Calls, since the PHARE and TACIS programmes have so far not brought the desired level of safety, for the further development of the programmes to set other conditions for the funding;

7. Calls for the setting up of a European databank for disseminating and assessing the results of energy projects;

8. Calls for more practical steps, including both financial and continued technical assistance, to help the coal regions of Central Europe to carry out the necessary restructuring and rationalisation of the coal sectors and encourage the adoption of clean coal technologies, thereby maximising the utilisation of an indigenous energy resource, reducing the social costs - particularly in view of the need of these regions to become economically viable for future membership of the EU - and to limit the adverse impact on the environment;

9. Calls for specific EU measures to promote the refurbishment of existing CHP plants and to promote the wider development of cogeneration through its financial support programmes, in particular by facilitating the creation of a network of independent national promotional organisations;

10. Urges the Commission to create a panel to monitor the activities of the large institutional investors; calls for the EBRD to give a higher priority to energy projects and for the EIB to be authorized to extend its activities into Russia and the CIS;

11. Insists that cooperation in nuclear matters between Member States and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union shall be subject to the following conditions:

(a) cooperation and partnership activities must be subject to the non-member countries being in full compliance with nuclear safety standards as defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency; this condition must comply to all applicant countries,

(b) non-member countries must adhere to the Vienna Convention and the International Safety Convention and be signatories to the Non- Proliferation Treaty,

(c) there shall be an independent national regulatory authority,

(d) non-member countries must have ratified the Espoo Convention (cross- border environmental impact assessment);

12. Insists that financial assistance by European Union institutions involving nuclear matters shall be solely related to matters of nuclear safety of reactors in operation and that a higher proportion be devoted to improving safety of the fuel cycle and radioactive waste facilities which pose a major environmental hazard in north-west Russia;

13. Urges that cooperation pay attention to the following matters:

(a) the legal and institutional framework,

(b) manufacturing standards,

(c) the handling and final storage of spent fuel and nuclear waste,

(d) the treatment of contaminated areas,

(e) the protection of public health,

(f) collaborative research;

14. Calls for urgent action to create nuclear materials handling facilities at Chernobyl and to guarantee the safety of the Chernobyl sarcophagus;

15. Urges the Commission,given the need to end the distinction between civil and military installations, to strengthen the joint activity in disposing of nuclear weapons-grade material and to develop a programme for the safe enclosure of nuclear materials for the prevention of re-use and to raise safety standards to the necessary level and ensure the monitoring of shipments. Asks the Commission to add a progress report to the annual safeguards report;

16. Welcomes the Commission's initiative to promote joint EC/Minatom activity on industrial cooperation in the field of safety in the nuclear energy sector;

17. Notes the progress already made in:

(a) encouraging safeguards accountancy and physical protection measures which meet IAEA criteria under the Community initiative promoted by DG XVII, Directorate F, and welcomes the contribution this makes to alleviating the risks of illicit trafficking and proliferation,

(b) establishing a training centre in nuclear safeguards;

(c) creating the International Science and Technologies Centre in Moscow, in association with Japan and the USA, to retrain redundant nuclear scientists and engineers;

18. Expresses concern at the falling numbers of qualified nuclear engineers employed on the Commission staff and the insufficient number of control staff in the Euratom-safeguard authority;

19. Calls for speedy ratification and implementation of the Energy Charter Treaty by all signatories, since this will help to create the necessary framework for energy cooperation between East and West;

20. Is deeply disappointed by the fact that the US has not acceded to the Energy Charter Treaty and instructs its Delegation for Relations with the USA to raise this point at the next meetings with its US counterparts;

21. Calls on the Commission to ensure that a social clause is made an integrated and essential part of the Energy Charter Treaty, a clause which would oblige the signatory states to the Treaty to ratify the cornerstone conventions of the ILO, such as those on the freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively, on health and safety, minimum age for employment, against discrimination, for equal remuneration, and against forced labour;

22. Notes that within the Commission, responsibility on energy matters is handled by a large number of directorates and therefore calls for a report, as a matter of urgency, on how energy issues are coordinated within the Commission and how these might be made more efficient and transparent;

23. Calls on the Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy, in cooperation with the Committee on Budgets, to develop procedures to ensure a more careful allocation of funds in this sector associated with checks on implementation, in view of the absolute volume of the funds made available and the indisputable shortcomings in their utilization;

24. Calls on the budgetary authority, in cooperation with the technical committee, to insist that, before the funds are allocated, agreement should be reached on safety standards and that it should be possible to carry out appropriate checks, given the considerable levels of funding for technical improvements to nuclear reactors or proper decommissioning.

25. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the governments of the Member States.