WRITTEN QUESTION E-2681/00 by Matti Wuori (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Nuclear safety ‐ Temelin power station.
Date: 2000-08-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Czechia, accession to the European Union, nuclear power station, nuclear safety, safety standard

C 163 E/4

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2001

(2001/C 163 E/004)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2681/00

by Matti Wuori (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(3 August 2000)

Subject: Nuclear safety (cid:129) Temelin power station

Some extremely alarming facts have come to light concerning the safety culture at Temelin nuclear power
station. The power station(cid:146)s completion was delayed by nearly ten years on account of technical problems
and cost factors affecting the building work, the additional costs arising partly from Western safety
standards. The power company CEZ has nonetheless brought forward the commissioning of the power
station, inter alia with an eye to the company(cid:146)s future privatisation, and nuclear fuel began to be loaded
into the Temelin 1 reactor at the beginning of July 2000.

Independent observers, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Greenpeace, have
reported that there are serious technical and safety problems associated with the commissioning of
Temelin. At the beginning of July, Greenpeace published internal documents concerning the safety culture
at Temelin which give rise to doubts as to how safe the nuclear reactor will be when in use. The
documents reveal that, in building the number one reactor, test procedures which accorded with safety
standards were not adhered to, that these procedures were altered because of unsatisfactory results and that
the management of Temelin resorted to temporary safety solutions. The IAEA meanwhile has criticised the
inadequacy of inspections by the Czech nuclear safety authority (SUBJ) this year. According to the IAEA,
the SUBJ cannot guarantee that sufficient impartial
inspections will be carried out. The CEZ(cid:146)s final
assessment of Temelin power station has been declared secret on commercial grounds, and because of
this the SUBJ has not allowed Greenpeace to inspect the document in question.

This year the Czech Republic will already be exporting 25 % of its energy production. This being so,
virtually the whole of Temelin power station(cid:146)s production capacity will be used to provide electricity for
export. At the same time, however, in the EU accession negotiations the Czech Republic is asking for
Community rules on the liberalisation of the energy market not to apply to the new Member States before
2007. According to these rules, trade in energy must be based on reciprocity.

Does the Council consider that Temelin power station complies with technical and operational nuclear
safety standards applicable in the EU Member States? Can the appropriate authorities in the Czech
Republic guarantee that high standards will be adhered to? How is the Council dealing with the issue of
nuclear safety in the accession negotiations? What view does the Council take of the possibility of delaying
the liberalisation of the energy market in the applicant countries?

Reply

(12 February 2001)

The Council attaches the greatest importance to the objective of a high level of nuclear safety in the
context of enlargement, as was clearly stated in December 1998 when the Council adopted its conclusions
on nuclear safety in the context of enlargement (1) and subsequently on numerous occasions in European
Council conclusions.

The Council is determined, throughout the process of accession, to follow closely the matters covered in
those conclusions. It will continue to follow the nuclear safety situation in the Czech Republic and would
point out that it is the State which has jurisdiction over a nuclear installation that is responsible for
ensuring the safety of the design, construction and operation of that installation. The Czech Republic is
invited to continue to provide regular, complete information on the development of the situation in the
field of nuclear energy and in particular nuclear safety, especially as regards the Temelin power station.

In this context the Council will give particular attention to examination of the communication which the
Commission has just approved on an enhanced nuclear-safety strategy in the countries of central and
eastern Europe.

As regards the liberalisation of the energy markets in the applicant countries, it must be stressed that as
the situation is different in each applicant country the timetable for the applicant countries(cid:146) compliance
with the acquis communautaire in the energy sector must be looked at on a case-by-case basis. It should also
be pointed out that in any case Directives 96/92/EC (Electricity) and 98/30/EC (Gas) provide for liberal-
isation on a gradual basis.

6.6.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 163 E/5

In any event, the Council has not yet completed its examination of Chapter 14 (Energy) of the acquis that
the applicant countries will have to accept.

(1) See 13677/98 (Presse 431-G).

(2001/C 163 E/005)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2719/00

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(1 September 2000)

Subject: State aid in agriculture

What is the Commission(cid:146)s estimate of the amount of state aid paid per person engaged in agriculture in
each of the Member States each year for the last five years for which figures are available?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(8 November 2000)

The State aid dossiers notified to the Commission include both individual draft aid programmes and
schemes which can cover several years, with a rather vague estimated number of beneficiaries and for
which the financial allocation is adopted each year by regional authorities and can stray from the initial
estimate (depending on budgetary resources available at the time).

In these circumstances, the Commission is not in a position to compile all the data needed to provide
accurate figures in reply to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s question. Nor do the Community-wide figures
published by the Commission in its Eighth Survey on State Aid, based on data provided by the countries of
the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), answer the Honourable Member(cid:146)s
question, because the expenditure included covers more than just State aid as such.

However, statistical data providing a partial answer to the question can be found in the Commission(cid:146)s
Eighth Survey on State Aid in the European Union (1), in its report on Agriculture in the European Union
(cid:129) statistical and economic data in 1999 (2), and in the OECD(cid:146)s publication on agricultural policies in
OECD countries: monitoring and evaluation 1999 (3).

(1) COM(2000) 205 final.
(2) http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg06/index.htm (cid:129) Agricultural statistics.
(3) OECD. Paris: OECD, 1999.

(2001/C 163 E/006)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2732/00

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Council

(3 August 2000)

Subject: Council secrecy

Apart from the Council of Ministers, which other legislatives meet in secret?