MEP recommends safety of nuclear plants and materials becomes EU responsibility

Brussels, 25 June 2002

Austrian MEP Paul Rübig is to present a report to Parliament on 1 July calling for the safety and security of nuclear plants and nuclear materials to come under the jurisdiction of an EU authority rather than the Member States, as is currently the case.

In his report on the Commission report to the European Parliament and the Council on the operation of the Euratom safeguards office (ESO) between 1999 and 2000, Mr Rübig argues that the Euratom Treaty should be modified by the European Convention. The safety and security of nuclear plant and nuclear material should be the responsibility of a new Community organisation, an independent Nuclear safety and security office, which would directly supervise nuclear operations in the Member States, claims Mr Rübig. Nuclear safeguards are already a Community responsibility.

Mr Rübig also believes that the ESO's budget should be increased so as to enable it to maintain its high standards. Particularly important is that ESO has enough funds to give its inspectors adequate training, says the report.

Another concern is that of data security and cybercrime. Mr Rübig calls for a harmonised regulatory framework at EU level in the fields of data security and secured data transmission. This is necessary because of technical differences between national data security systems, which are important in view of the transmission data from monitored sites to ESO headquarters.

CORDIS RTD-NEWS/© European Communities, 2001