Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-07-01-Speech-1-081"
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"en.20020701.6.1-081"2
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".
Mr President, I do understand what Mr Martin has just said about the lack of public awareness and the importance or otherwise of the sittings in this Parliament for the citizens out there in the various States of the Union. Especially because – in my opinion – we are working on and talking about an issue of great importance to the citizens, which should in principle be of interest to them and which I believe does interest them.
The corollary of this
observation on the new circumstances, however, is the need to guarantee the utmost transparency and efficacy of the appropriate safety standards in all installations in the European Union. This is what we will be working on, and we will continue doing so in the international sphere, in the Vienna Agency, to improve even further the required standards throughout the world in this type of installation.
For this reason, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like first of all to thank the Members who have spoken and, especially, Mr Rübig for his initiative of preparing this report.
I am particularly grateful because we are talking about the first report on Euratom’s safeguards operation to be presented by the Commission in the last eight years. This was the reaction that had been hoped for in response to the will to provide information and transparency expressed by the Commission in the exercise of the responsibilities conferred on us by the Euratom Treaty.
The majority of requests and suggestions expressed in the motion for a resolution submitted to the vote in this Parliament coincide 100% with the desires and concerns that I myself have expressed to you on various occasions. Last week, the Commission approved my initiative to regroup under a sole management the responsibilities of the Commission in the field of nuclear safety in the broadest sense of the word. This is my response to one of the fundamental concerns of this Parliament: coherence in these key areas of the nuclear sector must be increased.
Without going into the details of the motion for a resolution tabled by Mr Rübig, I wish to refer to two very specific issues:
Firstly, I should like to tell you that a new report on the operation of the Euratom Safeguards Office will be made available to you in the next few weeks.
Secondly, with regard to competences in the field of nuclear safety in the broadest sense, I believe it is crucial that the exercise of Community competence can rely on the technical expertise of the national authorities and can be undertaken in a coordinated and harmonious way and in conjunction with them. This observation, which is true today, will be even more so when enlargement takes place.
I should, therefore, like to say to Mr Rübig and to the other speakers that I hope to be able, in the coming months, to present to Council and to this Parliament a package of initiatives specifically on nuclear safety, which will respond to the concern that you have expressed, i.e. the need for there to be common safety standards in installations in the European Union, standards which constitute a Community
with mandatory compliance on the part not only of the fifteen current members of the Union, but also of the candidate countries, which will in time themselves be member States of the Union. These standards must also, consequently, provide guarantees to all citizens that things are done in the right way and with the highest levels of safety, which is what the European Union requires.
You are all aware of my position on nuclear energy. This is a controversial issue but, clearly, taking account of the new problems relating to climate change and other issues, in my opinion – I have said so repeatedly – it is an absolutely crucial one. This is something that is absolutely necessary and the nuclear option must be kept open in the European Union. This can also be deduced from the conclusions of the Green Paper recently approved by the Commission."@en1
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