http://www.nfi.at/dmdocuments/EURATOM_Position_EN.pdf
The use of nuclear energy is declining throughout the world. Currently, the share of nuclear power in global electricity generation is approximately 13%; and in total energy generation it is even less than 5%. In the aftermath of Fukushima, a growing number of countries are considering an exit from nuclear-energy use. And yet, the main objective of the EURATOM Treaty is to promote the use of nuclear energy, as is evident from Article 1: “It shall be the task of the Community to contribute to the raising of the standard of living in the Member States and to the development of relations with the other countries by creating the conditions necessary for the speedy establishment and growth of nuclear industries.” This is why Naturefriends as well as the other undersigned parties campaign for
• dissolving the EURATOM Treaty as soon as possible,
• failing this, for individual EU member states to arrange their exit in their own right (or as members of a group).
A number of expert assessments 1, attest to the fact that an exit from the EURATOM Treaty is permitted under customary international law in accordance with the provisions of Article 56 of the Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) and with the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty, and that it does not imply an exit from the EU.
Arguments and reasons for dissolving the EURATOM Treaty:
• The indiscriminate promotion of nuclear energy is outdated; it follows that not only ‘compulsory membership’ must be terminated, but the Treaty with its implied promotion commitment in its entirety.
• There is no pro-nuclear majority of EU member states; only 14 of the 27 member states run nuclear plants, and two of them (Belgium and Germany) have already decided to exit from nuclear
energy.
• Owing to the falling demand for the construction of new NPSs within the EU, the scope of the EURATOM loan facility has been extended to the construction of nuclear power plants in nonEU member states.
• Huge sums used to be and still are channelled to nuclear research (framework research programmes), the lion share being earmarked for the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) research project, which would have been impossible to finance in any other way. 1 Rotter, Manfred (2004): Rechtlich geordneter Austritt aus der Europäischen Atomgemeinschaft vor und nach Inkrafttreten des Verfassungsvertrages (im Auftrag der OÖ Landesregierung) [Exit from the European Atomic Energy Community under the rules of due process before and after the entry into force of the constitutional treaty (study commissioned by the Regional Government of Upper Austria)]; Geistlinger, Michael (2005): Überlegungen zur Möglichkeit eines einseitigen Ausstiegs aus dem EURATOM-Vertrag (angestellt für die Konferenz:
Energy Intelligence for Europe – The Euratom treaty and future energy options: Conditions for a level playing
field in the energy sector) [Reflections on the chance of unilaterally exiting from the EURATOM Treaty (in
preparation of the conference: Energy Intelligence for Europe – The Euratom Treaty and future energy options:
Conditions for a level playing field in the energy sector)]; Wegener, Bernhard (2007): Die Kündigung des Vertrages zur Gründung der Europäischen Atomgemeinschaft (EURATOM) – Europa-, völker- und verfassungsrechtliche Optionen für Deutschland; [Termination of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy
Community (EURATOM) – Germany’s options under European, international and constitutional law] (see also
http://www.raus-aus-euratom.at/downloads/einseitiger_Ausstieg_ EURATOM.pdf)
The EU Commission put the EURATOM Treaty with its implied democracy deficits – such as no powers of codecision on the part of the European Parliament – to use as the legislative basis for new directives on nuclear safety and the final storage of nuclear waste.
• Promoting a specific type of energy by means of a separate treaty can only be explained from an historical perspective and is no longer up to date. The treaty resulted from the belief in this ‘new’ form of energy production and the will to prevent the development of nuclear bombs.
The hazards and problems, such as the still unsolved problem of final storage, were as yet unknown. EURATOM is undemocratic
• The European Parliament has no powers of codecision; it is merely consulted.
• Many documents, such as the opinions delivered by the EU Commission under Art. 41 ECSC Treaty on the reliability of investment intentions in the context of nuclear power are not accessible to the public, or only in part and after lengthy procedures.
Documents forwarded by operators of nuclear power plants to the EU Commission in the context of investment intentions are not published at all.
• Nor has the European Parliament powers of codecision when it comes to the EURATOM framework research programme and to the granting of EURATOM credits.
• EURATOM does not consider itself bound to implement the Aarhus Convention: i.e. to guarantee access to information, public participation in decision-making, access to justice in environmental
matters.
Nuclear safety and radiation protection The Directive on Nuclear Safety 2009/71 and the Directive on the Responsible and Safe Management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste 2011/70/EURATOM have been drafted in recent years. In substance, the Directive on Nuclear Safety has neither made headway nor has it tightened the safety standards; it goes in no way beyond the rules laid down in the CNS (Convention on Nuclear Safety) or proposed in any other IAEO 2 recommendation. The fact that work on improving the Safety Directive is even now in progress, is but one indication of the fact that no breakthrough has been achieved.
On the one hand, the Directive on the Responsible and Safe Management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste states that the individual EU member states bear responsibility for their radioactive waste.
In direct contravention of this rule, the Directive permits the exportation of radioactive waste to third countries. How the safe management of nuclear waste is to be guaranteed in third countries remains a moot point. No rules are laid down for the methods and safety of the national programmes and/or for proof of safety for final disposal sites of nuclear waste.
Nuclear safety is and will remain a matter of national competence.
It would make sense, however, to make the national radiation protection part of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to stepping up public involvement. Control system for nuclear material In the European Union nuclear material control is performed by EURATOM and designated inspectors.
This task could also be performed by the IAEO, as is actually the case in all countries – with the exception of the EURATOM countries.
Such a step would permit independent external control. 2 The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an autonomous scientific-technological organisation that holds a special status within the system of the United Nations. The IAEA is no special organisation of the United Nations, but is linked with it by means of a separate agreement. It routinely reports to the General Assembly and to the Security Council of the United Nations, whenever risks to the internationa safety are identified.
The undersigned organisations – notably the Naturefriends organisations with a worldwide membership of 500’000 – demand that the European Union and its member states initiate the steps required for a dissolution of the EURATOM Treaty, thus paving the way for a sustainable and renewable energy future! Vienna, April 2012
