WRITTEN QUESTION E-1499/00 by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Risk posed by NATO warplanes to nuclear power stations in Western Slovakia.
Date: 2000-05-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Council of the European Union, NATO, Slovakia, common foreign and security policy, fighter aircraft, nuclear accident, nuclear power station, powers of the institutions (EU)

6.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 72 E/67

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(16 June 2000)

The Commission welcomed the formal adoption on 16 May 2000 of Parliament and Council Directive
2000/26/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to insurance against civil
liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles and amending Directives 73/69/EEC and 88/357/EEC
(Fourth Motor Insurance Directive) (1). The Directive is designed to improve the present arrangements for
settling claims by individuals who, while staying temporarily in a Member State other than their Member
State of residence, suffer loss or injury caused by a vehicle registered and insured in Member State other
than the Member State of residence. The aim is to rectify a shortcoming of existing legislation by providing
a rapid and pragmatic mechanism, where liability is not contested before the courts, for the insurer of the
person causing the accident to compensate the injured party, thereby protecting drivers passing through
the country who are involved in an accident.

The new provisions will apply not only to accidents occurring in a Member State but also to accidents
involving two Community nationals and occurring in a third country that is a member of the Green Card
system, including Switzerland.

After publication of the Directive in the Official Journal, Member States will have twenty-four months in
which to transpose it into national law.

It should also be mentioned that the Agreement between the Community and Switzerland on non-life
insurance relates only to the freedom of establishment of non-life insurance companies and does not
concern motor vehicle insurance. However, the Joint Committee provided for in the Agreement may look
into whether Switzerland ought not to apply the provisions of the Fourth Motor Insurance Directive.

(1) Not yet published.

(2001/C 72 E/079)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1499/00

by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(15 May 2000)

Subject: Risk posed by NATO warplanes to nuclear power stations in Western Slovakia

NATO aircraft have, according to numerous accounts by the local population, been seen and heard flying
over the high-risk nuclear power stations in Western Slovakia.

Any NATO aircraft which came down could be a threat to the nuclear power stations at Jaslovske
Bohunice and Mohovce which in all comprise five obsolete USSR-technology WWER 440 reactors, none
of them with appropriate secure containment, plus the Jaslovske Bohunice A1 nuclear plant which was
damaged in 1977, with unprotected buildings, inadequate stores containing high-level radioactive sub-
stances and nuclear waste, 20 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel which cannot be manipulated, and an even
higher quantity of spent fuel rods in cooling ponds, which have accumulated since the early Eighties.

Western Slovakia, with these two nuclear power station sites, is being used by NATO military aircraft as a
transit and in-flight refuelling zone, and the population of this small poor country is understandably highly
alarmed at these dangerous round-the clock flights over the nuclear installations. A disaster at the heart of
Europe, which might be even worse than Chernobyl, cannot be ruled out.

What is the Council(cid:146)s assessment of this grave problem?

What steps has the Council taken to avert this potential catastrophe?

C 72 E/68

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.3.2001

Reply

(26 September 2000)

The Council is not competent to express a view on matters relating to NATO(cid:146)s activities or their possible
consequences such as referred to by the Honourable Member.

(2001/C 72 E/080)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1503/00

by Ilka Schr(cid:246)der (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(12 May 2000)

Subject: New round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations

The Commission is urging the rapid initiation of a new round of World Trade Organisation negotiations.
At the same time, trade agreements are being concluded with particular states and associations of states
that involve more trade-related aspects than have already been settled under WTO auspices (in particular
public-sector procurement or investment).

By concluding trade agreements with states and associations of states,
anticipating future WTO agreements?

is the Commission deliberately

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(3 July 2000)

The launch of a comprehensive new round of multilateral negotiations is a major current objective of
Community trade policy and the Commission is working hard to build a consensus for this in the World
Trade Organization (WTO). Among the Community objectives for a new round are the establishment of
multilateral rules on investment and competition and clarification of existing multilateral rules that deal
with the relationship between trade and other important public policy objectives (relating, for example, to
environmental protection, consumer protection or development). These are essential if the WTO is to
respond adequately to the challenge of (cid:145)harnessing globalisation(cid:146). As the WTO takes all decisions by
consensus, the launch of a round, its agenda and the eventual results must be negotiated to the satisfaction
of all 136 members of the Organization.

As well as participating in the WTO, the Community is a party to regional trade agreements with many
other countries or groups of countries. Negotiations continue with a number of other partners. The fact
that provisions of regional agreements may be more ambitious than anything that has yet been agreed at
the multilateral level is simply a reflection of the different (bilateral) context in which negotiations for
regional agreements take place. For example, a number of the Community(cid:146)s regional agreements include
provisions on competition policy, something that has yet
to be brought within the overall WTO
framework.

The WTO rules explicitly provide for the existence of regional agreements among members (Article XXIV
General agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT) and Article V General agreement on trade in services
(GATS)) and set out a number of requirements that such agreements should meet. In the view of the
Commission, provided these requirements are met, regional trade agreements should be considered to be
supportive of the multilateral trading system.

(2001/C 72 E/081)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1504/00

by Ilka Schr(cid:246)der (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

Subject: Entry into force of EU-Mexico trade agreement

(12 May 2000)

The EU-Mexico trade agreement, signed on 23 March 2000 in Lisbon, is to enter into force on 1 July
2000. In Mexico, presidential elections are to be held on 2 July 2000.