WRITTEN QUESTION E-2297/03 by Esko Seppänen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Legal basis of the nuclear safety directive.
Date: 2003-07-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EAEC Treaty, EC Directive, EU law, decommissioning of power stations, interpretation of the law, legal basis, nuclear safety

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/485

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(12 August 2003)

There is no European legislation which requires railway undertakings in a Member State to use train
warning signals of a minimum or maximum volume.

The Commission does not have any plans to put forward such a proposal.

(2004/C 84 E/0562)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2297/03

by Esko Seppänen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(11 July 2003)

Subject: Legal basis of the nuclear safety directive

The Commission’s proposal (1) for a Council (Euratom) directive on nuclear safety proposes harmonising
the administration of funds for decommissioning nuclear power stations. Is the Commission sure that there
is an adequate legal basis for such a directive? Is it possible that this part of the directive could be
transformed into a separate proposal for a directive?

(1) COM(2003) 32 (cid:1) C5-0228/2003 (cid:1) 2003/0021(CNS).

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(12 August 2003)

The Honourable Member’s question focuses on the legal basis of the provisions on decommissioning funds
included in the proposal for a Council Directive (Euratom) setting out basic obligations and general
principles on the safety of nuclear installations.

Article 2(b) of the Euratom Treaty states that the Community must ‘establish uniform safety standards to
protect the health of workers and of the general public and ensure that they are applied.’ Title II Chapter 3
of the Euratom Treaty requires basic standards to be laid down to protect the health of workers and the
general public against the effects of ionising radiation. On this basis, a considerable body of radiation
protection legislation has been produced which, while designed to protect health, has a far wider scope
than health protection in the strict sense. Radiation protection and nuclear safety have the common
objective of protecting workers and the general public against the effects of ionising radiation, and both
in its judgment of 10 December 2002
form part of
(Case C-29/99), the Court of Justice confirmed that the Euratom Treaty also covered aspects relating to
nuclear safety.

the EU’s health protection policy.

Indeed,

The health of workers and the general public can be protected fully only by removing any potential risk,
and this also entails measures to guarantee a high level of nuclear safety. Decommissioning funds should
therefore be regarded not as an end in themselves but as a means of ensuring a high level of nuclear safety
when decommissioning operations are being carried out. Basically, the funds are comparable to any other
measures to achieve this objective, including technical ones. The fact is that financial resources are a key
component of a credible nuclear facility safety policy, which has to guarantee a high level of safety not
only during a facility’s operating lifetime but also afterwards for as long as the facility needs to be
monitored for ionising radiation protection purposes. That is why the proposal for a Directive on the
safety of nuclear installations, on the legal basis of Chapter 3 of the Euratom Treaty, also contains
provisions on decommissioning funds.