Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-12-Speech-1-116"
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"en.20040112.8.1-116"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in the important debate on the nuclear package, my position, and that of my group, the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left, is clear.
We do not, on this occasion, have to take sides in the confrontation between those in favour of, and those against, nuclear energy. We have to start from where we are in terms of the planet’s energy needs and in terms of how to respond to these needs. I would draw your attention to a few figures: at present, we use the equivalent of ten billion tons of oil, 90% of which is fossil fuel. Looking further into the twenty-first century, we observe that our needs are going to double by as early as 2050 or 2060, even if we are unwavering in our efforts to make energy savings.
We do not, therefore, have the resources to do without nuclear energy. If we were to do so, we should both be short of energy and see more serious pollution of the planet. We must therefore do everything to improve the management of nuclear energy.
That is why, regarding the management of radioactive waste and spent fuel, I congratulate Mr Vidal-Quadras for the quality of his work. In particular, he proposes an essential change. Each Member State should, between now and 31 December 2006, set its own deadline for preparing and presenting a waste management programme. That seems to me to be more realistic than the Commission’s proposal.
The report also poses the problem of the nature of the waste in question. Does it amount to freely circulating merchandise? For us, the waste is not ordinary merchandise, and we agree to specifying that, although a Member State’s programme may provide for the transfer of nuclear waste to another Member State, no Member State is obliged to accept such imports.
When, finally, it comes to the safety of nuclear installations while they are being operated or decommissioned, I also wish to congratulate my colleague, Mr Seppänen, who has been very skilful in carrying out his work as rapporteur. The Commission’s proposal was not really satisfactory, and Mr Seppänen was not content to ask the Commission to try to come up with something better. Instead, he listed the shortcomings and put forward constructive criticisms, which my group and I support.
Yes, our European Parliament and our Commission may genuinely be said to have worked well, overall, on this nuclear package."@en1
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