WRITTEN QUESTION E-4079/00 by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Council. EU aid for enhancing the safety of nuclear reactors.
Date: 2001-01-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Bulgaria, EU aid, EU programme, Lithuania, Slovakia, decommissioning of power stations, nuclear reactor, nuclear safety

21.8.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 235 E/59

the beneficiary countries are in the process of agreeing framework grant
Funds. As a prerequisite,
agreements with the fund manager and of finalising the project pipeline. This process is most advanced
in the cases of Bulgaria and Lithuania. The three decommissioning support programmes do not contain
elements to directly enhance the safety of the respective reactors, but aim to support their early closure
and decommissioning.

As mentioned, the three special country programmes were started in response to the beneficiary countries(cid:146)
closure commitments. Following to these political decisions, the project proposals needed to be developed.
Thus, these programmes follow the inverse sequence of other more traditional programmes for which
project proposals are the starting point. As the project pipelines to be submitted to the Assemblies of
Contributors are still in their final phases of preparation, the questions of the Honourable Member on the
take-up rate of the financial assistance cannot yet be answered at this juncture. The programmes will
indirectly be effective in enhancing the safety of nuclear power generation in the candidate countries, as
they will enable the beneficiaries to implement their decisions on the early closure of reactors that have
been qualified as non-upgradeable at reasonable cost.

(2001/C 235 E/064)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4079/00

by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Council

(10 January 2001)

Subject: EU aid for enhancing the safety of nuclear reactors

As part of EU economic aid to the countries of Eastern Europe to enhance the safety of
their
technologically obsolete nuclear reactors, the Commission has decided to make available funds for this
purpose to Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia which are candidate countries for accession to the EU.

What stage have the procedures relating to this economic aid reached? What is the take-up rate of funds
by the countries concerned? On the basis of the funds taken up so far, how does the Council judge the
effectiveness of these funds in enhancing the safety of the nuclear reactors in the candidate countries?

Reply

(14 May 2001)

The EU has highlighted the importance of high standards of nuclear safety and of a high level of
environmental protection from the outset of the accession negotiations with all the candidate countries
by incorporating this objective in its General Negotiating Position.

The Council has repeatedly confirmed its commitment to assisting candidate countries in improving
nuclear safety and developing medium and long-term energy strategies for the replacement of the less safe
nuclear power reactors. In that perspective, the Council emphasises that for the countries which operate
reactors that cannot be upgraded to internationally accepted levels of safety at a reasonable cost, earliest
practicable closure of those reactors should be provided for, consistent with the priorities contained in the
Accession Partnerships with the relevant countries.

EU assistance is being made available both through the PHARE programme and Euratom loans in
a comprehensive strategy to support the candidate States(cid:146) efforts in the decommissioning process and to
upgrade safety levels and modernise reactors that will continue their operation.

Beyond that, pursuant
to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89 of 18 December 1989 and
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1628/94 of 4 July 1994, the European Commission is responsible for
the requisite implementing measures under the PHARE programme. As indicated in the Commission

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Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.8.2001

communication (cid:145)Commission support for nuclear safety in the Newly Independent States and Central and
Eastern Europe(cid:146), the Commission has begun to provide financial assistance for the process of decom-
missioning nuclear facilities in Lithuania and Slovakia and will grant the bulk of that financial support via
international decommissioning aid funds administered by the EBRD.

The Commission is therefore the competent Community body to answer in detail the questions raised by
the Honourable Member.

(2001/C 235 E/065)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4081/00

by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Council

(10 January 2001)

Subject: Cooperation agreements with the countries of central Asia

Despite the hopes of economic and social development prevalent among the countries of central Asia after
the dissolution of the Soviet Union, today, ten years after becoming independent, these countries are facing
a profound crisis with no solution in sight. Recent reports in the New York Times point to the adverse
trend of economic indicators for these countries, a rise in corruption and a lack of investment leading to
high unemployment and poverty for large sections of society. Some years ago the European Union
concluded cooperation agreements with the five countries of central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan) aimed at fostering the economic development of these countries.

Can the Council say what progress has been made in implementing these agreements?

Does it consider that this initiative has contributed to the economic development of the countries of
central Europe and, if so, to what extent?

take the view that

for promoting the
Does it
development of, and granting aid to, fledgling countries which it can use in future in other regions
where the interests of the EU are at stake?

these agreements have proved a successful model

Reply

(7 May 2001)

For the five countries of central Asia the transition from relatively poor Soviet Socialist Republics to
modern and potentially prosperous nation States is proving difficult for various reasons. All the republics
are confronted with serious economic problems. Corruption,
lack of investment, unemployment and
poverty are the evils affecting those countries. In addition there are the serious environmental problems
inherited from the Soviet Union. The economic situation, however, varies greatly from one country to the
next and despite everything progress is being made. In certain countries improvements are made in the
short and the medium terms as regards growth and the reduction of inflation.

External factors exacerbate the difficulties encountered by the countries of central Asia, and in particular
the situation in Afghanistan, relations with Russia, fundamentalism and the lack of regional cooperation.

The Council would point out that three Partnership and Cooperation Agreements, those with Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, entered into force on 1 July 1999. The agreement signed with Turkmenistan
in 1998 has not entered into force. As the Honourable Member is aware, the European Parliament has not
delivered an Opinion, in particular because of the human-rights situation in that country. In the case
of Tajikistan, the unstable situation in the country rules out the possibility of contractual relations with
the EU.