Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-04-06-Speech-3-467-000"
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"en.20110406.32.3-467-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, allow me to say that I am pleased that we are continuing the debate that started last month. On the one hand, this proves the gravity of the matter, and on the other, it is an indication that, beyond all those emotional reactions that the still extremely serious situation in Japan rightly elicits in all of us, our institutions intend to take action in this matter with appropriate prudency. At the same time, I would like to reaffirm that we are ready to provide continuous and concrete assistance to the Japanese people, both in the form of humanitarian aid and assistance from nuclear experts. The European Council stated this clearly on 25 March.
Furthermore, I would like to point out that the Hungarian Presidency reacted immediately to the disaster in Japan, in particular, the activities related to nuclear energy risks. Let me already at the very outset dispel those misconceptions that the public may form regarding nuclear safety, namely that only now, in relation to an external crisis situation, does the EU realise the significance of the matter. That is a major fallacy, on the one hand because in actuality, there has been a legally binding framework in effect on this subject in Europe for more than 25 years, which we are continuously adjusting, most recently, for example, through the 2009 Nuclear Safety Directive. On the other hand, also because ensuring nuclear safety is a continuous process, during which we are gradually perfecting the specifications, drawing conclusions from events such as those that took place now in Fukushima, and regularly checking the actual safety condition of the installations. In March, the European Council provided actual confirmation that the EU’s response must follow directions which combine guaranteeing safety on-site with perfecting the regulatory framework. One aspect of this multi-threaded EU response is the comprehensive risk and safety assessment of European nuclear power plants, that is, the matter of ‘stress tests’.
The scope of this, and the practical steps involved, must be established while taking into account recent events and making full use of available expertise. The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group and its members, the independent national regulatory authorities, must finish determining the aforementioned practical steps by the middle of May, which will probably allow for the assessment of these to be started in the summer. Several Member States and nuclear operators have already adopted decisions requiring the safety review of power plants. Based on this, the first conclusions can therefore be drawn and published at the end of the year. The assessing authorities will therefore share the results of the stress tests with both the general public and the Commission.
Based on the latter report, the European Council will evaluate the preliminary results by the end of the year. In the framework of the other, that is, the regulatory aspect, the European Council has already asked the Commission to review the existing legislative and regulatory framework for the safety of nuclear installations and to make a proposal for perfecting it as required. At the same time, we must continue the work that is already under way in the field of legal regulation, and we must adopt the proposal for a directive on the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. After all, the safety specifications obviously need to be determined in such a way that they cover the entire life cycle of nuclear installations. As a third step, we must also ask third countries in the neighbourhood of the EU to join this assessment and raise the level of their safety requirements.
Safety concerns are, of course, not restricted to nuclear energy. We cannot afford, with regard to any energy source, however large its share in supply security may be, to put considerations of guaranteeing supply before safety aspects related to human health or environmental protection. As you know, we must also take into account the existing situation in Europe, namely, that the fuel use of the Member States is based on different mixes. As such, everyone is free to decide upon their energy mix. It will remain this way in the foreseeable future, because we are talking about the energy mix, the determination of which lies within Member State competence. However, in respect of common goals, this does not prevent us from making progress on the road to creating a common energy policy.
This year, for example, we will begin the examination of the Energy Roadmap 2050. In doing so, we will assess the degree to which individual energy sources need to contribute to achieving climate-related targets, in parallel with which we also need to meet our energy policy, supply security, sustainability and competitiveness objectives. In addition to the freedom to determine the energy mix, however, the deepening of the internal market and increasingly close interconnections result in a growing interdependence between Member States’ energy policies and energy source selection decisions. Accordingly, it is also sensible to form a common vision about the consequences of our energy policies on investments, energy prices and regulation.
This also means that, since nuclear energy currently accounts for 30% of Europe’s energy production, none of the 14 Member States that choose nuclear energy can afford to close down their nuclear power plants immediately without first consulting the other Member States, and examining both potential alternative energy sources and network-related issues in the process. To this end, the Presidency intends to hold a detailed exchange at the informal meeting of energy ministers in May to resolve issues relating to this subject. Last but not least, it is important that we also inform the public about the underlying assumptions and about both the advantages and disadvantages of the chosen energy sources. I am certain that we can also contribute to this with today’s debate. Thank you very much, Mr President."@en1
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