WRITTEN QUESTION E-2113/01 by Gordon Adam (PSE) to the Council. Temelin nuclear power plant environmental impact assessment.
Date: 2001-07-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Czechia, accession to the European Union, environmental impact, impact study, nuclear power station, nuclear safety

C 81 E/110

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.4.2002

Some days before he was murdered in Tbilisi, Russo had told his mother on the telephone that he had
come into possession of certain frightening and irrefutable proofs concerning the violence and massacres
perpetrated in Chechnya by the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the use by those forces of
weapons forbidden under the Geneva Conventions. These proofs were not found at Russo(cid:146)s house in
Tbilisi.

Is the Council aware of these circumstances? Is it in possession of exact information concerning the
inquest into Jan Robrillard(cid:146)s death and its conclusions? If so, what initiatives has it taken, including any
with the Georgian, French or Italian authorities, to establish the possible links between the two cases and,
therefore, to shed light on both?

Reply

(27 November 2001)

learnt of the untimely deaths of Antonio Russo and Jan
It was with great sorrow that the Council
Robrillard. Both of these men had chosen to work in important and difficult areas, and had demonstrated
the strength of their commitment. Both of them clearly commanded the respect of their colleagues.

In the months since news of these two deaths became public, the Council has placed its faith in the Italian,
French and Georgian police to investigate the surrounding circumstances. Representatives of EU Member
States in Tbilisi, as well as the Commission Delegation there, maintain a constant watch on events, but the
Council has not received any detailed information concerning the conduct or the outcome of enquiries.

The Council is certainly not in a position to comment on rumour or conjecture.

What is certain is the Council(cid:146)s public and vocal stance against violence on journalists, and in favour of the
freedom of the media. In recent months, there has unfortunately been no shortage of occasions for the
Council to restate its commitments on these questions.

As long as incidents of violence on journalists and restrictions on the freedom of the media continue in
different countries, so the Council will continue to use all the channels of political dialogue available to it
to draw attention to such abuses, and to press for them to cease.

(2002/C 81 E/131)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2113/01

by Gordon Adam (PSE) to the Council

(13 July 2001)

Subject: Temelin nuclear power plant environmental impact assessment

In light of the report on the above assessment, preparation of which was agreed in Melk in December
2000 and concluded with a public hearing in Vienna in June 2001, does the Council agree that the Czech
Republic has fulfilled the commitments made at Melk? Does the Council also agree that there are no safety
reasons why the commissioning of number one reactor should not proceed?

Reply

(27 November 2001)

The Council is not aware of the report. Neither is it involved in the assessment process mentioned by the
MEP.

4.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/111

The Council attaches however great importance to candidate countries achieving a (cid:145)high level of nuclear
safety(cid:146). To that effect, a report on nuclear safety in these countries was prepared, comprising detailed
recommendations for each country. These recommendations have been forwarded to the candidate
countries including the Czech Republic and apply i.a. to the Temelin nuclear power plant.

Replies to these recommendations are now awaited and will be considered in the framework of the
enlargement negotiations.

(2002/C 81 E/132)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2114/01

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(13 July 2001)

Subject: Right to Know and chemicals

Could the Commission please confirm whether the Product Safety Directive, or any other EU Directive,
currently provides consumers with a legal right to know the chemical constituents of products they buy,
for example whether a food can has a lining containing bisphenol A or whether a perfume contains
artificial musks?

If so, how can a consumer exercise such a right?

If not, does the Commission have any plans to institute such a right so that consumers are free to make
their own decisions about what they and their family are exposed to?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(18 September 2001)

In the case of food contact materials Community legislation does not call for the disclosure of specific
ingredients, as it has been regarded that this could infringe on industrial trade secrets. Instead, a safety-
based approach is taken to authorise only those materials that have been deemed to be safe on the basis of
independent
scientific advice. A similar approach is also taken for perfumes where commercial
confidentiality reasons in some cases can be even stronger.

In other instances, e.g. for dangerous substances and preparations, the legislation calls for the disclosure on
the label and in a safety data sheet of those substances which are responsible for a given hazard
classification. A safety data sheet need not be supplied where dangerous substances or preparations offered
or sold to the general public are furnished with sufficient information to enable users to take the necessary
measures as regards the protection of health and safety.

The Commission is aware of the need for a more coherent and transparent approach on ingredient
disclosure, safety information and consumers(cid:146) right to know. Therefore the proposal for an amending
Directive on General Product Safety (1), which is likely to be adopted in September this year, contains a
general obligation for public authorities of the Member States and the Commission to disclose information
available to them relating to risks to consumer health and safety posed by products, the only exception
being information covered by professional secrecy in duly justified cases.

The importance of these aspects has in addition been explicitly recognised in the Commission White Paper
on a strategy for a future chemical policy, which proposes that the public should have access to non-
confidential
their hazardous
properties, labelling requirements, authorised uses and risk management measures.

information on chemicals and chemical products,

including details of