EU har atomkraft på dagsordenen: Danmark deltager i samarbejdet via EURATOM. NOAH-Friends of the Earth Denmark kritiserer.
EU-Kommissionen har netop fremlagt et forslag til en "nuklear pakke" om fælles sikkerhedsstandarder, behandling af atomaffald m.m.
Samtidig foreslår Kommissionen en forhøjelse af EURATOMs låneramme på ikke mindre end 50%, så der samlet kan gives for 6 mia EURO i lån til atomindustrien.
Danmark er med i EU-samarbejdet på atomkraftområdet trods den tidligere beslutning om ikke at indføre A-kraft i Danmark.
Miljøorganisationen NOAH , som er med i den internationale miljøorganisation Friends of the Earth, deltager også i den europæiske debat om atomkraften. NOAH bidrager til FoEs lobbyarbejde overfor EU og arrangerer bl.a. et offentligt møde om EUs atomkraftpolitik 15. december i København i forbindelse med EU topmødet (se www.noah.dk/konference/).
NOAH mener at den danske regering bør arbejde for en ophævelse af EURATOM-traktaten, der bl.a. har som formål at fremme brug af atomkraft i EU.
NOAH tilsluttter sig den følgende pressemeddelelse fra FoE Europe.
På vegne af NOAH´s Energigruppe
Henning Bo Madsen
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH EUROPE
PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday,
6 November 2002
STRONG CRITICISM FOR EUROPEAN COMMISSION'S NEW NUCLEAR
PROGRAMME
Friends of the Earth (FoE) today strongly criticised the European
Commission both for its decision to proceed with and the content of its new nuclear
programme.
The 'nuclear package' (1), a mix of new laws and loans, is seen
by FoE as an attempt to throw a lifeline to the European nuclear lobby. The group
believes that the measures seek to 'green-wash'
the nuclear industry to make
them appear as if they are behaving responsibly, whilst disguising the real motive
of Commissioner De Palacio to revive at any cost a failed, dirty, and dangerous
industry.
FoE
is calling for the package to be shelved and for the 1957 Euratom Treaty (2) under
which it is being developed to be radically overhauled. FoE will mount vigorous
opposition when the
measures come before the Council of Ministers, in particular
calling for the rejection the 2 billion EURO of new subsidised loans.
Martin Rocholl, Director of Friends of the Earth Europe, said:
"The legal basis for the measures, the 1957 Euratom Treaty, is hopelessly out of date, highly undemocratic, and distorts the market by discriminating against other energy options.
The
Commission therefore has no valid mandate to make these proposals and should at
the very least suspend them. It is also wrong in principle for the Commission
to both promote and regulate the
nuclear industry, and outrageous that the
Commission wants to offer more subsidies through cheap finance.
"The
package itself does little if anything to protect the public from nuclear risks.
The expansion of the loans regime would simply throw good money after bad; safety
standard would remain
inadequate and unenforced; and the proposals for radioactive
waste management are likely to provoke widespread protests, as they will curtail
public debate and scientific analysis.
If Commissioner De Palacio presses on with these proposals, then she faces a rough ride.
"The European
Convention should begin an urgent examination of Euratom. Radical reform of the
treaty must be the first priority, so a common framework is created for EU energy
strategy in which
the special status for nuclear power current is removed.
If Euratom stays unchanged, then the risk of damaging public confidence in the new constitution for Europe is high." (3)
ENDS
Contact: Mark Johnston, FoE Europe Nuclear Campaigner +4479 7331 9249
More information
on the nuclear package and on the Euratom Treaty can be found at
http://www.foeeurope.org/activities/Nuclear/nuclear.htm
Notes:
(1). The 'package' is the largest single compilation of new nuclear legislation in more than decade, and represents a coordinated effort to prepare the ground for the further development of atomic power in an enlarged EU. The centrepiece is a 2 billion EURO extension to a nuclear development loan regime, creating subsidised finance for the promotion of new nuclear power projects.
(2). 'Euratom' is the shortened form for Treaty to establish a European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC). It was signed in Rome in March 1957 at the same time as the Treaty to establish a European Economic Community (EEC). Whilst the later has been updated many times, the Euratom Treaty has remained largely unchanged. Unlike the1952 European coal and steel treaty, which expired earlier this year on its 50th anniversary, the Euratom treaty is never set to expire, and so requires active political intervention to bring it up to date. Friends of the Earth believes that the European Convention, now sitting, which leads to the 2004 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) represents a unique opportunity to reform Euratom and to create a new framework for a sustainable European energy strategy.
(3). Friends of the Earth Europe believes the
Euratom agreement, signed 45 years ago, is hopelessly out of date, undemocratic
and needing radical and urgent reform. FOE maintains the current
treaty is
defective in three main areas:
A 'democratic deficit', as a co-decision
procedure with the European Parliament has never been introduced;
a fundamental
'conflict of interest' exists, as the treaty both promotes and regulates the
industry,
which in turn seriously undermines nuclear safety;
there is no level playing
field across the energy sector, as the nuclear industry is given special promotional
status above other energy options.
Friends of the Earth is the largest
grassroots environmental network in the world, campaigning to protect the environment
and create sustainable societies. Friends of the Earth Europe unites more than
30 national member organisations with thousands of local groups.
NOAH
Friends
of the Earth Denmark
Nørrebrogade 39, 1 tv
DK- 2200 København
N
Tlf. + 45 - 35 36 12 12
Fax. + 45 - 35 36 12 17
e-mail: noah@noah.dk
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www.noah.dk
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