WRITTEN QUESTION E-2167/96 by Per Gahrton (V) to the Commission (2 August 1996)

Subject: Final storage of nuclear waste in another EU country

According to a study recently carried out by a firm of consultants in Brussels (EuroGreen Services Ltd: 'Can the EU Member States export their nuclear waste for final storage?', 23 May 1996), there are no directives or legal precedents governing the export of nuclear waste for final storage among the Member States. According to the report, this means that 'Sweden could become an importer of nuclear waste'. Inquiries to the responsible Commission officials (Yvon Slingenberg DGXI, C7; Mr Taylor, DG XI, C3; Karl Horst Schaller, DG XI, C3), were met with the response that 'the Commission believes that in future a very few countries in Europe will be responsible for final storage and therefore sees nothing negative about such a scenario'.

Is it the Commission's objective that the final storage of nuclear waste should be confined to a small number of countries? Does the Commission consider that EU countries which have not themselves produced nuclear waste can and should be used for final storage? Will a Member State which has nuclear power, and therefore its own waste to deal with, be able to refuse waste from another Member State simply on the basis of a political decision not to allow imports of nuclear waste for final storage? Or will such a course of action be regarded as a breach of internal market principles and prompt the Commission to intervene?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (10 October 1996)

While there are no Community legal provisions governing the 'export of nuclear waste for final storage among Member States', the Directive on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste between Member States and into and out of the Community' (92/3/Euratom of 3 February 1992) ((OJ L 35, 12.2.1992. )) covers all waste shipments for whatever purpose. This requires that shipments of radioactive waste between Member States be subject to prior authorization by the Member State of origin. This authorization can only be issued after the Member State of destination has granted its approval.

The communication from the Commission to the Council, the Parliament and the Economic and social committee of 3 March 1994 'A Community strategy for radioactive waste management' ((COM(94) 66 final. )) states that 'treatment and storage facilities and final repositories for radioactive waste will have to be centralized in many cases for economic, safety and environmental protection reasons and their number will remain very limited'. The Commission takes the view that the option of voluntary cooperation between Member States to limit the number of repositories should remain open.

While only those Member States with nuclear power programmes produce 'nuclear waste', all Member States produce radioactive wastes. These come from medical, research, industrial and other activities. The Council Resolution of 19 December 1994 ((OJ C 379, 31.12.1994. )) on radioactive waste management states that 'each Member State is responsible for ensuring that the radioactive waste produced on its territory is properly managed' but notes that 'the possibility of a mutually agreed cooperation between Member States exists'.

The Community has so far not obliged a Member State to accept a shipment of radioactive waste from another Member State. The Commission is of the opinion that this practice should also be pursued in the future.