AnswergivenbyMrMontionbehalfoftheCommission
(30July2003)
Manyelementsinfluencethepriceofaship,andshipyardsmaytakeintoaccountvariousaspectssuchas
ordersituation,relationswithimportantcustomers,rawmaterial,productivityimprovementetc.whensetting the price. Moreover, price and financing conditions of individual orders are business secrets.Furthermore,itisdifficultfortheCommissiontocommentonapressarticle.
However,itcanbenotedthattheshipreferredtointhequestionbytheHonourableMemberappearsto
beverysimilartoashippreviouslybuiltbythesameshipyardforthesameowner,whichwouldimply
significantlyreduceddevelopmentcosts.
Nevertheless,itneedsalsotobeunderlinedthatifaparticularlylowpriceofashipislinkedtoillegal
subsidies,thismaycreatedistortionsintheinternalmarket.Whiletheelementsprovidedinthereferredarticlearenotsufficienttoconcludethatanyirregularitieshavetakenplace,theCommissiontakescarefulnote of the concerns raised by the Honourable Member. The Commissionwill continue to keep theCommunityshipbuildingmarketunderclosereview.
(2004/C58E/155) WRITTENQUESTIONE-2170/03
byMonicaFrassoni(Verts/ALE),LucioManisco(GUE/NGL)
andLuigiVinci(GUE/NGL)totheCommission
(30June2003)
Subject:FailureoftheItaliangovernmenttoimplementDirective89/618/Euratom(radiological
CouncilDirective89/618/Euratomof27November1989(1)oninformingthegeneralpublicabouthealth
protectionmeasurestobeappliedandstepstobetakenintheeventofaradiologicalemergencystatesthefollowinginitsArticle5:
1. MemberStatesshallensurethatthepopulationlikelytobeaffectedintheeventofaradiological
emergencyisgiveninformationaboutthehealthprotectionmeasuresapplicabletoitandaboutthe
actionitshouldtakeintheeventofsuchanemergency.
2. TheinformationsuppliedshallatleastincludetheelementssetoutinAnnexI.3. Thisinformationshallbecommunicatedtothepopulationreferredtoinparagraph1without
anyrequestbeingmade.
TheItaliangovernmentincorporatedthedirectivebymeansofLegislativeDecreeNo230of17March
1995,butmadeitsimplementationpartlyconditionalontheappearanceoffurtherlegislationwhichhasnotmaterialisedtodate.
Inpractice,nopreventiveinformationhasbeensuppliedtothoselikelytobeaffectedintheeventofa
radiological emergency. This has recently been confirmed by the local representatives of the ItaliangovernmentinVercelli.
Thisfailuretoprovidepreventiveinformationisquiteunjustifiablyincreasingtherisksattachedtosuch
emergencies:thepublicisnotproperlypreparedandisthereforenotinapositiontotaketheappropriatemeasures.
ThisfailuretoactonItalianterritoryrunscountertothespiritoftheinterventionplansfornuclear
emergencies, ashasbeenmadeclearfollowingaccidentsatseveralnuclearpowerstationsandothersoccurringwiththetransportofhighlyradioactivesubstances/dashaswiththemeasuresnowunderwaytotransferpartoftheirradiatednuclearfuelfromtheSaluggianuclearstorageplant(Vicenza,Italy)totheSellafieldtreatmentplantintheUK.6.3.2004EN C58E/139 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion
TheCommission:
1. Isitawareofthisseriousomission?2. What action does it intend to take toensure that Italyimplementsthe legislation on preventive
informationofthepopulationingoodanddueform,giventhatthirteenyearshaveelapsedsincetheadoptionofDirective89/618?
3. DoesitnotconsideritdesirabletocallontheItaliangovernmenttosuspendallnewnuclearactivities
untilithascompliedwithitsobligationsregardingprevention?
(1) OJL357,7.12.1989,p.31.
AnswergivenbyMrsdePalacioonbehalfoftheCommission
(9September2003)
CouncilDirective89/618/Euratomof27November1989oninformingthegeneralpublicabouthealth
protectionmeasurestobeappliedandstepstobetakenintheeventofaradiologicalemergencywastransposedintoItalianlawbyChapter10(‘nuclearemergencysituation’)ofLegislativeDecreeNo230of17March1995.
Implementationofthegeneralrulesonpreventivepublicinformationwasmadeconditionalupontwo
decreesbeingadoptedbytheMinisterforHealth(Articles133and134oftheLegislativeDecree).Thefirstofthesewastosetupastandingcommitteetoestablishboththecontentsofthepreventiveinformationandhowitistobedisseminated,whilethesecondwastodesignatetheauthoritiesresponsibleinteraliaforsupplyingtheinformation.Withmorespecificregardtothelegalframeworkforemergencyplanningrelatingtooperationstotransportradioactivematerials,Article125oftheLegislativeDecreestipulatesthatadecreeistospecifyhowandwhensuchplanningistooperate.
TheCommissioncanassuretheHonourableMembersthatitintendstocheckwiththeItalianauthorities
thattheimplementingdecreesreferredtoinArticles125,133and134haveindeedbeenadoptedandwhatmeasureshavebeentakenintheparticularcontextofoperationstotransportradioactivematerials.
(2004/C58E/156) WRITTENQUESTIONP-2174/03
byFrançoiseGrossetête(PPE-DE)totheCommission
(25June2003)
Subject:Measurestocombatclimatechange
In view of the leading role played by the European Union in combating climate change, can the
Commission explain the differential between the Community and US appropriations allocated to the
programmeconcerningtheuseofhydrogen(cf.theHydrogenAct)?
HowdoestheCommissionenvisageitsapproachtothisAmericanpolicyandtheproblemswhichmay
affectcompetitioninthemoreorlesslongterm?
AnswergivenbyMrBusquinonbehalfoftheCommission
(25July2003)
The challenge of climate change has many facets, which are addressed through different Community
instrumentsthatarepartofacommonpolicy.Withinthe6thCommunityFrameworkProgrammeforResearch,TechnologyDevelopmentandDemonstration(RTD)(2002-2006),abudgetofEUR2120millionisallocatedtoresearchon‘Sustainabledevelopment,globalchangeandecosystems’,mostofwhichwillC58E/140 EN6.3.2004 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion