Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-03-12-Speech-1-090"
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"en.20010312.6.1-090"2
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".
Mr President, first of all I would like to reassure both Mr Chichester and, perhaps, to a greater extent, Mrs Isler Béguin. The reason I am representing the Commission here today is not that the issue of the transportation of nuclear materials has been transferred to the stealthy and all-embracing range of activities of the Commissioner responsible for external trade. It is actually a far more innocent exercise involving the temporary transportation of files between members of the Commission out of concern to lend a hand from time to time. I must specify that I shall not be stockpiling these files.
That is what the Commission wished to say on the subject of this report. Obviously, we are going to carefully examine all the suggestions made in the report along the lines I have just outlined, that is, with a view to improving our own action within the scope of our resources and our jurisdiction as conferred by the Treaties.
As I said in my opening remark, we feel that this report makes a useful contribution. It makes it possible to issue an informed opinion to the citizens of Europe and, following the many debates between us on this issue of the transportation of radioactive materials, we feel that it contributes to a reasoned approach to this activity, which will doubtless motivate improvements in terms of transparency, and we therefore consider this report to be most welcome.
Basically, then, the transportation of nuclear material, as you have just mentioned, is often approached in a rather emotional fashion, considering the context and the environment in which this industry operates. We, in the Commission, therefore, fully appreciate the difficult task that you have had in summarising positions which are often rather contradictory. We feel that the rapporteur, and also the Members of Parliament and the committee members who have participated in this, should be congratulated on this quite remarkable overview.
As several of you have pointed out in the course of the debate, the nuclear industry, like it or not, assumes a significant load in ensuring the security of our energy supply, and we must, therefore, accept the fact that this industry must undertake the transportation of radioactive material.
The key point we see in the report before you is the confirmation that the measures undertaken nationally and internationally provide a high level of safety in the transportation of this material. That being the case, there is quite clearly a crucial need for transparency in this matter, as in all matters affecting the nuclear sector. We acknowledge the need for precise and transparent information regarding the risks which the population at large could or can run. We support and are willing to promote this.
Despite the difficulties arising due to the nature of the material and the limitations necessitated by security considerations, like you, we feel it is important to step up the provision of information. Obviously, this is an area that has never yet been optimised or perfected and, as Mr Piecyk mentioned, it is true that the States are first and foremost responsible for such matters, but that does not stop us working on measures to improve, for instance, the documents dealing with the transportation of such material.
It is not for us to deliver an opinion on the appropriateness of using reprocessing technology. This is an essentially industrial solution which must really be decided on the basis of technical and economic criteria and in terms of the need to reduce highly radioactive waste.
We can, on the other hand, give our support to the efforts made in research and development, and we intend to do so. Indeed this is what the Commission has proposed under the Sixth Framework Programme on Research and Development, giving priority to innovation in waste management.
It is also our responsibility to ensure that obligations under the Euratom Treaty, Chapter III on radiological protection, are fulfilled. Your report expresses the wish to incorporate a chapter on energy in the Union Treaty. We are all aware that this is an issue that has been discussed on several occasions within intergovernmental conferences, without any result to date.
As our Green Paper “Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply” emphasises, we feel that the Euratom Treaty fulfils its objectives in a whole range of areas. It is true that it does not include any specific reference to the transportation of radioactive material. We consider, nonetheless, that the provisions of this Treaty enable us to perform a supervisory role while maintaining the prime responsibility of Member States."@en1
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