Background and latest Developments

2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Euratom Treaty on 25 March 1957. To celebrate this event, the Commission drafted a Communication reviewing the Treaty's history, functioning and scope for amendment; the European Parliament‘s ITRE Committee held a Public Hearing in February 2007 bringing together around a dozen speakers with a wide spectrum of views on the past successes and future direction of the Treaty. The EC Communication, adopted on 30 March, gave a mainly historical perspective, lauding the Treaty's achievements and emphasising its enduring relevance. The EP's draft report was voted in the ITRE Committee on 27 March 2007 and underscored the benefits to both nuclear and non-nuclear Member States of retaining the Euratom legal framework whilst, as expected, calling for the introduction of co-decision. Adoption of the final EP opinion by Plenary took place in May.

The European Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF) was created in November 2007. Within its framework, the Legal Roadmap Subgroup (LRSG) was established. It is a subgroup of the ENEF Opportunities Working Group. Its mandate is “to establish a nuclear energy roadmap to improve the nuclear legal framework, including greater harmonisation of licensing procedures”.

The Paris Convention on 3rd Party Nuclear Liability was revised in 2004 to include higher ceilings for operator and government responsibility in the event of a major nuclear accident, as well as an extended timescale and scope for the claims procedure.  It has however emerged that the insurance industry is not generally willing to cover the revised operator liability conditions, and so the ratification process within signatory states has stalled.  Coupled with this, there is disparity amongst the EU Member States in terms of to which liability convention(s), if any, they are party.  The European Commission is therefore minded to act to harmonise the situation and is undertaking consultations to this effect with the Member Sates and other affected parties.

FORATOM Legal Task Force

The purpose of the Task Force is to monitor and consider the legal implications of new legislative or administrative proposals within or outside the scope of the Euratom Treaty even if also covered by other Task Forces. Such proposals could for example deal with licensing, safety, waste management, security, safeguards, third party liability, international agreements, transboundary shipments, dual use goods, uranium supply contracts, WTO rules and policies, environmental policies, intellectual property rights or competition rules.

Links

European Commission pages on Euratom Treaty:

http://ec.europa.eu/euratom/index_en.html
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/treaties/treaties_euratom_en.htm