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Verbatim report of proceedings
Tuesday, 15 November 2005 - Strasbourg OJ edition

30. Nuclear power plants
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  President.   The next item is the debate on the following reports:

- A6-0282/2005 by Mrs Harms, on behalf of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, on the proposal for a Council regulation on the implementation of Protocol No 9 on the Bohunice V1 nuclear power plant in Slovakia, as annexed to the Act concerning the conditions of accession to the European Union of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia (COM(2004)0642 – C6-0205/2004 – 2004/0221(CNS));

- A6-0279/2005 by Mrs Harms, on behalf of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, on the use of financial resources earmarked for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants (2005/2027(INI)).

 
  
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  Andris Piebalgs, Member of the Commission. Mr President, first of all, let me take this opportunity to warmly thank Mrs Harms for the excellent reports she drafted on the two items under discussion tonight. I would also like to indicate my appreciation for the quality of the debates which have taken place in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. I would like to put the Commission’s proposals, and to some extent today’s discussion, into a broader context.

We are probably at the beginning of a long-lasting period of high oil and gas prices on the international markets, with a sharply growing demand worldwide. With regard to this new situation we have to react with determination and ambition. We already discussed the five-point-plan in earlier discussions with you. The immediate option for the EU is to act on the demand side, since the greatest room for manoeuvre in the European Union lies there.

Looking at the supply of energy, I want to stress that the choice of energy supply is up to each Member State. It is their individual decision as to which energy mix they prefer, of course within the framework set by the European Union, such as commitments for reduction of CO2 emissions, or promotion of renewable energy.

Nuclear energy today produces one third of electricity in the European Union. The role of nuclear energy is closely linked to a solid strategy dealing with security of nuclear material and non-proliferation, radiation protection, nuclear safety, reliable disposal of nuclear waste and the safe decommissioning of nuclear installations. Discussions tonight will address in particular not nuclear plants, but the decommissioning of nuclear installations, be it in relation to the end of their lifetime, or be it for power plants in new Member States, which could not be upgraded at affordable costs.

Financing of decommissioning is a complex issue, where the existence of various approaches in the Member States has been noted. The Commission has issued its report on decommissioning, which is considered today following the request of the European Parliament. It has recognised therein that there was an increased need for transparency and harmonisation in the management of the financial resources needed. Therefore, the Commission intends to adopt recommendations on funding schemes earmarked for decommissioning.

The cooperation established in the course of 2005 with Member States and via the fruitful debates launched with the European Parliament on the issues related to the decommissioning schemes will allow significant progress to be made in this important area.

On the more specific question related to the decommissioning of Bohunice, the Accession Protocol provides the framework for the early closure of Bohunice. The assistance to be granted to ensure the early closure of the two reactors at the Bohunice nuclear power plant is an expression of the Community’s solidarity with the Slovak Republic, underlining that the Commission and the Member States recognise the significant challenges posed by such an early closure.

The Commission’s responsibility is to monitor the closure commitments, and to deliver the support through the mechanisms available to it. This we have done for the 2004 and 2005 annual support commitments, and I do not foresee any difficulty with the 2006 contribution.

The Protocol associated with the Accession Treaty acknowledges that the decommissioning will have to continue for several years and it would cause a significant financial burden for Slovakia. Therefore, the decision on EU assistance after 2006 will take this situation into account.

Against that background, and in order to present its proposals for the next financial perspective, the Commission prepared the draft regulation on which you are now consulted. We felt that there was a need to continue providing support since the Commission recognises that decommissioning is a process. The level of support in our proposal is based on a continuation of the support already agreed during the accession negotiation in Protocol No 9. The amount of EUR 237 million is part of the financial perspectives currently under negotiation. Therefore the Commission reserves its position on any amendment related to funding, which is part of the financial perspectives.

I hope these few words concerning the two reports under discussion helped to set the scene and explained in which spirit and with which aims the Commission’s proposals were established and adopted.

 
  
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  Rebecca Harms (Verts/ALE), rapporteur. – (DE) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the reports I am presenting tonight concern financing for the decommissioning of nuclear power stations, both in general and in one specific case. I very much regret that we are debating this topic at night, because this issue is so serious and has gone so far off the rails that I would have liked it to be discussed in the clear light of day and with our full attention, as was the case when we recently discussed the REACH programme.

Earlier this year, the Commission brought forward its first communication on preparations for the financing of decommissioning and waste disposal for nuclear installations in Member States operating nuclear power stations.

This communication is incomplete, to put it mildly. However, for once it is not the Commission that is responsible for these omissions, but rather the governments of the Member States, which up to now have been very reluctant to reveal the truth about the nuclear industry’s inherited and future liabilities.

The Commission communication demonstrates to me how little the ‘polluter pays’ principle has applied to Europe’s nuclear industry up to now. Funds in which there is sufficient money to finance the decommissioning of nuclear power stations and the storage of nuclear waste are unfortunately the exception in Europe and certainly not the rule. By neglecting to set aside provisions for waste disposal, the eastern Member States have far more in common with the western Member States than many of us would like to admit. In France, the European Union’s leading nuclear country, the Court of Auditors assumes that the taxpayer will one day have to pay for EDF’s liabilities, that is to say the nuclear industry’s liabilities. In the UK, the government, that is to say the taxpayer, has taken on the knock-on financing for the decommissioning fund: EUR 1.5 billion according to the Commission’s estimates. And it will not necessarily be the last time that the UK nuclear industry has had to be bailed out by the public. The cost of decommissioning a nuclear power station is estimated at between EUR 200 million and EUR 1 billion. So you can imagine what may be yet to come.

Let us be clear about the financial dimensions of this whole issue: there are currently 149 nuclear power stations in operation in Europe, and in view of their age and technical condition the Commission is working on the assumption that over the next 20 years, 50 to 60 of these reactors will have to be taken offline. In the majority of cases there has so far been a failure to make adequate provision for decommissioning and disposal, if any at all.

When and how the decommissioning of a nuclear power station is commenced once it has been closed down, and how waste disposal is arranged is, however, vital when it comes to avoiding the impact of radiation on the environment, on neighbouring residents and on the workers carrying out the decommissioning. I believe that the decision as to how and when decommissioning takes place – and I believe that this is also the view of those who believe in a responsible environmental policy – should be guided solely by safety considerations, and safety should in no circumstances take second place to the financial interests of the nuclear industry.

This whole business is becoming very expensive, and this large sum of money, which is simply not available at present, is needed not just at a specific point in time, but may continue to be needed for many centuries to come. Given the number of companies that go bankrupt, and the growing hunger of international hedge funds for European companies, I can only urge the Commission to put pressure on the Member States finally to encourage their nuclear industries to get a financial grip on their liabilities. That is why I believe that actual funds need to be created.

In Germany, for example, we can now assume that EUR 30 billion has actually been set aside by the nuclear industry. However, it is hard to say where this money is at present, because this amount, EUR 30 billion, which is equivalent to the GNP of all the Baltic States combined in a single year, has been blown on shopping sprees both here in Europe and beyond. People like buying other energy supply companies, and also water supply or telecommunications companies, in fact companies in all sectors involving supply networks. If I argue about this, I am repeatedly told that we must make our money work for us. But even in Germany no one can guarantee at present that the billions that we will need in 2030, 2040 or 2050 will actually be available by then. I believe that we should be working towards the guaranteed availability of funding for waste disposal, and I also believe that it should be forbidden to use these provisions, which were collected from electricity customers to make provision for future liabilities, in a way that distorts markets and competition.

The aim of my compromise text, which I am presenting in this Chamber today together with my own-initiative report, and which we will be voting on tomorrow, is to encourage the Commission to take action on deficiencies in relation to provisions for waste disposal. I remain convinced that it is right for Member States to retain responsibility for nuclear waste. I am, however, equally convinced that here in Europe we lack strong uniform criteria for companies to set up funds. I believe that the polluter pays principle must be observed. Financial provision for decommissioning and waste disposal must also be guided by the highest safety standards. Decommissioning funds at company level, which are kept separate from the general operating budget and which are also externally audited, would both enhance nuclear safety and allow us to avoid the nuclear industry repeatedly making off with public money.

It is a pity that, although the Committee was able to reach agreement on the general direction in which decommissioning provisions should go, we could not agree on the detail and decide upon a set of criteria that we could recommend to the Commission when, as I hope it does, it adopts my overall proposals. If that is what the House still wants to bring about, then I ask it to support the amendment that my group has tabled, so that we can achieve what I have just proposed.

In concrete terms, however, we are not just discussing provisions in general, but the specific issue of the decommissioning of the Bohunice nuclear power plant. It has been decided to close down the Bohunice plant because of safety problems that cannot be overcome by retrofitting. Under the EU’s PHARE programme, EUR 240 million of EU funding has already been paid to Slovakia in connection with the closure of Bohunice. This money is intended to enhance safety in the area around Bohunice and also provide financial compensation for its early closure. Following this initial payment, the Commission is now proposing to pay a further EUR 237 million for closure measures and replacement capacity. On the basis of my own knowledge of the cost of closure and decommissioning measures, I regard this proposal as appropriate.

I do, however, wish to specifically reject the proposed increase in funding to EUR 400 million for which there have been calls on both the left and right of this House. False promises will neither help us to gain acceptance for European policy nor guarantee safety at Bohunice. I will work to ensure that the funding the Commission regards as appropriate is paid. I will also work to this end in the context of discussions on the financial perspective and in the budget debates for forthcoming periods. But at the same time I shall also be working to ensure that this money, which we would then be paying – and this still depends on the financial perspective – is actually used to benefit the safety of the public in Slovakia and elsewhere in the EU. I will very definitely oppose companies like Slovenské Elektrárne or ENEL in Italy using this money to build new nuclear power stations.

As the rapporteur, and as an opponent of nuclear energy, I would have liked to recommend that you support Amendment 18 from the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats, which supported the Commission proposal with regard to the level of funding, but, as that amendment has, unfortunately, been withdrawn, I recommend – if you want to be realistic and honest towards Slovakia – that you vote tomorrow against Amendment 12 and make sure that Commissioner Piebalgs’ reasonable proposal is accepted.

 
  
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  Ján Hudacký, for the PPE-DE Group. (SK) It is a generally acknowledged fact that, under political pressure from the European Union during the accession negotiations, Slovakia agreed to the early closure of its nuclear power plant at Jaslovske Bohunice, despite the fact that after upgrading all its security systems, the installation now meets all safety standards. This fact has been confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The costs of upgrading alone came to EUR 250 million. On the other hand, the European Union has undertaken to cover some of the costs. For the 2007-2013 period, the Commission has proposed a financial contribution of EUR 237 million, but this falls far short of the total costs calculated from the latest studies submitted by the Slovak Government.

The Commission based its calculation of decommissioning costs and the resulting size of its contribution on outdated and rather questionable methods, taking into account only the decommissioning process itself. Based on the latest studies the total direct costs amount to EUR 1.3 billion, the indirect costs EUR 1.8 billion, and losses due to the cessation of energy generation EUR 1.5 billion, assuming a lifespan for the installation continuing up to 2015.

The overall cost, including loss of output, thus reaches EUR 4.6 billion. Taking account of these facts, the parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy has proposed in its revised report to increase the EU's financial contribution for 2007-2013 to EUR 400 million. This proposal also represents a positive compromise for the Government of the Slovak Republic, which had requested financial assistance of around EUR 700 million. I am well aware of the complexity of the situation surrounding the EU's failure to agree on a budget for 2007-2013. The pressure for budgetary cuts from most Member States is strong and often legitimate. At the same time, Slovakia cannot put the safety of its population in jeopardy, and it needs sufficient financial resources to go ahead with safe decommissioning at the earliest date.

At a time of mounting crisis in the energy sector, coupled with increasing electricity consumption, the decision to push ahead with the early closure of a safe nuclear installation was perhaps lacking in foresight. It will result in Slovakia losing 19% of its production capacity and most probably becoming dependent on electricity imports in the near future. There are those within Europe, however, who clearly regard this as a satisfactory outcome. Everyone has to pay for their mistakes, but this time we will all have to pay. I hope that in the future lessons will be learned from such absurd mistakes.

 
  
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  Edit Herczog, on behalf of the PSE Group. (HU) Mr President, I welcome the report by Mrs Harms, but at the same time I would like to remind you that the debate today is not about pro- or anti-nuclear issues; it must primarily be about safety. This includes on the one hand nuclear safety, and on the other security of energy supply.

We are all aware of the very high costs involved in carrying out decommissioning of nuclear power plants in a safe and professional manner. I am convinced that all European institutions, the Commission, Parliament and every Member of this House agree that we cannot skimp when it comes to nuclear safety. Alongside the ‘polluter pays’ principle, therefore, we must make room for the phrase ‘safety comes at a price’.

I would like to stress that the European Union must appreciate Slovakia’s unselfishness in this matter. It had to agree to close down two units of the Bohunice nuclear power plant when this requirement was added almost as an indispensable condition in the very last stages of the accession process. We knew then that this would involve a loss of production capacity, a shortage that Slovakia would have to meet with new investment and imports.

In our neck of the woods there is also a saying that ‘he who pays the fiddler calls the tune’. In this sense I think Slovakia’s request to the European institution to enable it to decommission the plant safely is perfectly reasonable.

In my view, there are at least three elements in European Union principles and policy that would provide adequate justification for supporting decommissioning out of European resources. The first is the principle of social, economic and territorial cohesion between Member States. Slovakia has made a major commitment for the sake of the European Union, and is fulfilling it, but it cannot go beyond its own limits, its own level of economic development.

The second is security of energy supply, which is as much a right of domestic and industrial consumers in Slovakia as in any other Member State of the European Union. Let us not forget that not so long ago we adopted a resolution calling for a 20% target for renewable energies in the EU's overall energy consumption by 2020; the situation today is therefore not the same as it was in the past.

The third is combating energy dependency. Early closure of viable energy generating capacity can only help in this regard if it is replaced by more efficient, economically sound capacity. Based on all these points, I call upon you to support Amendment 16, which has this as its aim.

 
  
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  Fiona Hall, on behalf of the ALDE Group. Mr President, on the particular issue of Units 1 and 2 of the Bohunice V1 nuclear power plant, the rapporteurs in the Slovak Government have both come forward with an estimate of the total cost of decommissioning for the two units as likely to be EUR 750 million. Against this, the Commission’s proposal for an appropriation of EUR 237 million for the period 2007 to 2013 may seem modest, but there are two very strong arguments in favour of keeping to the Commission’s figure of EUR 237 million.

Firstly, although Unit 1 is due to be shut down in 2006, major structural decommissioning will not begin until Unit 2 is shut down in 2008. EUR 237 million is a substantial sum of money for the first five years of a decommissioning period which is expected to last for 30 years.

Secondly, to increase the amount is to make a mockery of the budget which Parliament has already voted. We know that politically we are entering into a very sensitive period on the financial perspectives and it does not help if Parliament votes one thing one minute and another thing the next. We have to respect the vote on the budget. Nor should we be trying to force anyone’s hand on the budget beyond 2013.

The debate on any further money for Bohunice should take place in the context of the next round of budget discussions and in the light of whatever has happened on decommissioning up to that point. It is understandable, however, that the Slovak authorities want to know where they are with the funding over this 2006-2013 financial perspective, so the total sum of EUR 237 million needs to be fixed for that period without further review, although the yearly appropriation may vary.

On the wider issue of decommissioning, the key challenge is to ensure that, on the one hand, enough money is available to decommission nuclear plants safely and, on the other hand, that the financing of decommissioning does not become state aid by the back door. Paragraph 5 of the report is important in this respect. It is the nuclear industry – not governments – that needs to make provision in advance for decommissioning and ensure that the full cost is included in the balance sheet from the start. Too many times in the past the nuclear industry has got its sums wrong and then come begging for financial assistance. That is unacceptable because the failure of the nuclear industry to make proper provision for the cost of decommissioning distorts competition. If back-end costs are not calculated properly, then nuclear-generated electricity appears to be much cheaper than it really is. I hope that the Commission will ensure that such anti-competitive practices are not allowed to occur in future.

 
  
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  Esko Seppänen, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group. (FI) Mr President, in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy we decided to draft an own-initiative report on the use of financial resources earmarked for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. The reason was that the management of these funds is included in a nuclear safety package on which Parliament delivered an opinion but which the Council could not come to terms with.

We are waiting for the Commission to issue a new proposal for a directive on the matter. It should ensure that nuclear plants are wound down safely and that there are sufficient funds to keep reactors cocooned from the environment for thousands of years.

Management of the decommissioning funds should in principle fall within the competence of national powers. We may nevertheless agree to common rules being drawn up, on the grounds that the winding-down of nuclear power plants impacts on the safety of employees and the health of people across state borders. A potential problem will always cross state borders.

Unfortunately, we cannot have much confidence in the way that all Member States will reserve funds so that we would be fully certain that there is enough money for many generations to come. An indication of this is the decommissioning of the Bohunice power plant, not to speak of Ingalina. EU financing is needed for these. If financial resources for decommissioning are not collected entirely through the price of electricity, competition will be distorted in the electricity markets. In that respect the funds will also affect the single market. The electric power produced in nuclear power stations should not be cheap, simply because it will fall to future generations to pay for decommissioning of the plants.

The rapporteur, Rebecca Harms, has done some painstaking work in the message she is sending to the Commission, in the form of these reports, asking it to draft a new directive.

 
  
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  Nils Lundgren, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group. (SV) Mr President, the operation and phasing-out of nuclear power are activities that may have cross-border effects in Europe. Unlike most other activities, they need, then, to be controlled at EU level. Nuclear power is, however, like other processing industries. Technical development often leads to reactors’ lives being extended. Even reactor tanks may be exchanged in the future. We do not therefore know for certain when a reactor has to be phased out. The output of Swedish reactors, which are now on average 25 years old, is now being considerably increased. Their remaining life is therefore considered to be significant.

Clearly, phasing out has costs associated with it, and resources need to be set aside to offset these. My own country, Sweden, where approximately half of all electricity is generated by nuclear reactors, has taken care of the relevant funding from the beginning. I think we can assume that all democratic countries have done the same. Detailed bureaucratic instructions for controlling this process are unnecessary. The idea that technocrats in Brussels might be needed to chaperone experienced nuclear power experts in the Member States seems almost absurd. The Member States’ governments and authorities are subject to democratic control and cannot expose people to risks.

It is, however, obvious that those Member States that were previously subject to undemocratic Communist regimes are in a significantly different situation. Their reactors were built in a different safety culture in which more risks were taken and in which not enough financial resources were set aside for phasing-out reactors. It would be a clear token of solidarity on the part of the wealthier Member States if the latter were to contribute resources for this process. In terms of how much money, though? The June List believes that, given that the financial perspective has not been adopted, funding in connection with Bohunice V1 in Slovakia should, to start with, be set at the amount proposed by the Commission, namely EUR 237 million for the period 2007–2013. Thus, we should not at present commit ourselves to subsidies from the Community budget for the period after this timeframe.

 
  
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  Umberto Pirilli, on behalf of the UEN Group. – (IT) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the current debate is of strategic importance in the ambit of the policies of the European Union. The problem that has been brought to our attention is that of the nuclear power plant at Bohunice in Slovakia and the concomitant problem of the use of financial resources for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants.

The first problem relates to the application of Protocol No 9 on the Treaty and the Act of Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. Article 3 of this Protocol envisages follow-up financial assistance for the decommissioning of reactors 1 and 2 of the Bohunice plant. We consider that the greatest possible amount of funds must be committed to make reactors 1 and 2 at Bohunice safe during their decommissioning.

Nevertheless the problem I want to bring up is that of the safety of our whole continent, and the related question of how such safety can be pursued together with suitable energy supply policies, applied with vigour. Such policies would need to guarantee a level of financial competitiveness in the European system commensurate with the challenges of innovation and development.

In Europe today there are 155 power-generating reactors, of which at least one-third will have to be decommissioned in the next few years. The decommissioning of 50 or 60 reactors will involve expenditure that realistically will be close to EUR 50 billion. Given that most of these reactors are situated in new Member States, and are therefore less sound both structurally and financially, the first problem that the Commission must confront is putting in place a systematic plan for helping and supporting such countries with their decommissioning.

A second problem concerns the need to set up an in-depth cost-benefit analysis of a nuclear plant, setting these indicators against installation and decommissioning costs in relation obviously to the average lifespan of the reactors that have been installed. On the basis of the results of such a study, it will be possible and proper to make bold, lasting decisions in one direction or the other.

A final problem, no less serious, concerns what happens outside Europe. Today there are 440 reactors in operation throughout the world, while 25 more are under construction. Post-Chernobyl, world public opinion has been astounded at the run-down state and the serious dangers posed to humanity by numerous reactors, many of which are situated in the former Soviet Union.

That being so, is it not the duty of Parliament to recommend to the Commission that negotiations should be opened with the United States and Russia and all affected states, to establish a policy to clean up the entire planet and make it safer?

 
  
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  Sergej Kozlík (NI). – (SK) Within the framework of the accession negotiations, the institutions of the European Union made the Slovak Republic consent to the early closure of two units of the Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear power plant, despite the fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that the plant meets the criteria for long-term safe operation.

The forced and politically motivated early closure of these nuclear facilities will worsen the energy problems of Slovakia, and the European Union as a whole. The Slovak Republic will not be able to raise the resources needed to finance safe decommissioning of the nuclear installations, even with the current level of support from the European Union. By way of comparison, consider the fact that the decommissioning costs estimated by the Union for the Lithuanian nuclear power plant in Ignalina are three times higher than those for the Slovak plant.

I would therefore ask you, esteemed colleagues, at least to back the minimum solution, whereby support for decommissioning the Bohunice reactors will be increased from EUR 237 million to EUR 400 million, as proposed by the ITRE Committee.

 
  
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  Romana Jordan Cizelj (PPE-DE). (SL) On behalf of the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and the European Democrats, I would like to address the question of financial resources for the decommissioning of nuclear plants.

Our political group is of the opinion that financial resources should be secured on the polluter–pays principle. We also advocate that such resources must be adequate and made available at the time envisaged by the decommissioning programmes of individual Member States. Provision of resources has to be secured before the end of the assumed service life of a given nuclear plant. Resources have to be used for their designated purpose, managed in a transparent way and employed in accordance with the European legislation on competitiveness.

Our political group finds it unacceptable that delay in the decommissioning should occur as a result of a shortfall in financial resources. We can, however, accept planned delays covering periods during which continuing radioactive decay reduces the radioactivity of materials and, consequently, the exposure of workers to radiation.

Because of our responsibility to the generations that follow, we have to find an appropriate mechanism at a European level to monitor and manage such financial funds. We have to be aware, however, of the need to strike a proper balance between the competences of individual Member States and the European Union in accordance with the Euroatom Treaty.

The document which is the subject of this discussion has been designed to ensure equal competition between nuclear power plants and other power plants. Since we are discussing nuclear plants separately, we have to be careful not to impose on them a burden which other plants are not subject to.

Commissioner Piebalgs, the point I am making is that we have to monitor our practice at a European level and ensure the implementation of the undertakings made and international standards adopted by the Member States and candidate countries – Bulgaria and Romania. At the same time, we also have to monitor closely the developments in countries which have commenced accession negotiations. By this I mean Croatia, which owns a 50% stake in the Krško nuclear power plant (otherwise located in Slovenia) and which undertook commitments similar to those of other nuclear countries.

 
  
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  Reino Paasilinna (PSE). – (FI) Mr President, Commissioner, there is the same problem with closing the Bohunice nuclear power plant as there is with Ingalina. Both, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, are at present in such a condition that they could still be used. Europe has an ongoing energy crisis partly because the price of oil is forever fluctuating arbitrarily on the markets. Consumption grows, and at the same time we will, in the end, have to take action to prevent the greenhouse phenomenon.

The new, small Member States, which do not have sufficient substitute forms of energy, will nevertheless have to close their power plants under pressure which came from the old Member States at the time they joined the EU. This pressure was partly due to a fear and suspicion of Soviet technology, and partly a quest to gain an economic advantage. It is right and just that Slovakia and the other new Member States in a similar position should receive adequate financial assistance to cover the costs of closure. We are proposing EUR 400 million. Closure, however, is likely to be carried out by companies from the large, old Member States. The problem will nevertheless remain: our consumption of energy will grow and there will not be enough time to fix the situation with renewable resources. Energy used for cooling, for example, has increased many times over in the last 10 years in Sweden. For cooling! China is swallowing up the growth in oil production. We need a new energy policy.

 
  
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  Šarūnas Birutis (ALDE). – (LT) Under substantial pressure several years ago, pre-accession countries such as Slovakia, Lithuania, and now Bulgaria, were unconditionally forced to undertake the decommissioning of their nuclear power plants prior to the expiration of their design operating term. Such undertakings are difficult to substantiate economically or explain logically. We have to acknowledge that some unfounded political decisions had been made.

Most specialists recognise that the premature shutdown of nuclear power plants is a hard blow to the economies of the regions and a burden amounting to billions on European Union taxpayers.

A task of utmost importance is to help ensure the secure supply of power in these regions, since the forced decommissioning of nuclear power plants creates the threat not only of economic, but also of political dependence on other power suppliers. In this context I would like to specifically emphasise one vital prerequisite for decommissioning, namely the development of a common EU energy system and the supply of energy resources.

In this case decommissioning operations of nuclear power plants must be backed by sufficient and timely funding, and plants may not be shut down at each other's expense. The change of situation calls for the most prudent solution – the continued operation of power plants.

We must address the situation with a reasonable sense of reality.

 
  
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  Vladimír Remek (GUE/NGL).   (CS) Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the problem we face with regard to the Bohunice nuclear power station is that a new Member State committed itself to shutting down what amounts to a vitally important source of energy for the country. This power station has by no means come to the end of its useful life. What is more, a great deal of money has been spent on modernising it, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that it meets the standards for similar nuclear plants of the same age. It is common knowledge that Slovakia was under a certain amount of international pressure to commit itself to shutting down Bohunice, but the then government took as its guiding principle the goal of joining the EU. The government now wants to make good on its commitment, even though this would be detrimental to the Slovak economy and would mean that the country would have to import energy at a time when energy prices are constantly rising.

I believe that we should back the conclusion reached by the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, and vote in favour of the proposed increase in EU funding to accompany a safe decommissioning of the Bohunice power station, in order to ensure that the Slovak economy remains competitive. The people of Slovakia should not feel that they have effectively lost out as a result of joining the European Union and of complying with tough requirements that many believe to be somewhat unjustified.

 
  
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  Kathy Sinnott (IND/DEM). – Mr President, I wish to summarise the situation. Two nuclear power plants have grown old and unsafe and must be decommissioned. The cost of closing the plants is almost EUR 2 billion. The ongoing maintenance of the closed plants will require the employment of an expert team for several decades or maybe a century. It has to be done and we are being told that the EU has to do it. Past mistakes are expensive. The only positive value of this disastrous situation is as a lesson for the future. Will we treat it as such? Will we learn from the consequences of our romance with nuclear power?

In the countries that decide to privatise their plants or change ownership, a dangerous game of hot potato is played with the responsibility of paying the decommissioning costs. We know that a nuclear power plant will not last indefinitely, but do we consider this before they are built? Decommissioning costs should be calculated in from the very beginning and someone must then step forward and take responsibility for the financial and organisational burden of cleaning up the nuclear waste that will be left behind.

Twenty-eight years ago Des O’Malley, then Minister for Industry and Commerce, told us that Ireland would not survive without nuclear power. We were told that we would be sitting in the dark without lights, that we would have to abandon our milking machines and go back to milking by hand and that we would have electricity rationing. Because the Irish people thought about the future, they said no. They considered the kind of problems we now face in decommissioning the two plants we are talking about and many other ageing nuclear monsters.

Ireland did not shut down for lack of nuclear power. We still do not have nuclear power and we have the strongest economy in the EU. Ireland’s economy has developed strongly despite the fact the country does not have nuclear power. I want to pay tribute to the Irish anti-nuclear campaigners.

I would also like to use this opportunity to ask decision-makers to consider the lessons of Lithuania, Slovakia and Ireland before deciding to set up a new generation of nuclear power plants. There are better, safer and cheaper ways to keep the wheels turning and the lights on.

 
  
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  Paul Rübig (PPE-DE). (DE) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would first like to thank the rapporteur for her very wide-ranging and in-depth analysis. We have always believed that nuclear power station security and safety is a European issue, and that such issues affect us all, because malfunctioning or other problems affect the public across Europe.

Decommissioning and final storage are clearly issues for competition law. We must make sure that funds are allocated in line with EU competition law, and I also believe that there must be legal provisions to prevent distortions of competition, by which I mean not only distortion in competition between the Member States, but above all between producers, and not only as regards nuclear energy but for all energy sources. That is why we in the centre believe that peer review is necessary, that is to say mutual checks and transparent implementation, and that we need to pay particular attention to ensuring that in future funds for closure, final storage and consumer security are available for each energy source.

The European Union, the Court of Auditors and the various other institutions must create a clear legal framework. It is a matter of presenting the situation as clearly as possible and of applying models that reduce costs to the consumer while at the same time optimising security, safety, final storage and decommissioning.

 
  
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  Hannes Swoboda (PSE). (DE) Mr President, I would basically feel a lot happier in a Europe without nuclear power stations and free of the associated risks. However, because that is a decision made at national level, as the Commissioner quite rightly said, we need to pay particular attention to safety. European rules and standards need to be applied here.

The only thing is that, in this case, we are talking about a power station that was built before accession to the European Union, one of the consequences of which is that it must now be closed down. We are talking about a power station in a not very wealthy country, a country with economic problems. That is something that I believe we must take into account, and that is why the Austrian Members in the Socialist Group in the European Parliament are seeking a higher contribution towards this power station’s closure costs. The PSE Group will therefore be voting for this higher contribution. I do not see any great contradiction with the financial perspective, because there is no problem about finding this funding in the long term.

Let me once again appeal to the House to support Slovakia in this instance and give it a real helping hand, so that we can, in the interests of Europe’s safety, close this power station down as soon as possible.

 
  
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  Marios Matsakis (ALDE). – Mr President, we all seem to agree that the decommissioning of nuclear power plants is necessary on safety and environmental grounds, but the real question is who should pay for it, and should this cost not be taken into account when planning new nuclear power plants in the future?

We have heard that in the EU about 60 nuclear power plants need to be decommissioned in the next 20 years, at an average cost of EUR 500 million apiece. That means that a staggering EUR 30 billion will be needed over the next 20 years! That is about 30 times the annual budget of my country, Cyprus, and a cost the equivalent of building hundreds of hospitals, schools and other institutions of public value. My country has had nothing to do with nuclear material, apart from the disgraceful storage by Britain of nuclear bombs at the colonial British bases there.

Is it not fairer that countries which have benefited from nuclear energy production should themselves contribute far more significantly to decommissioning their nuclear power plants? And why should those who were responsible for building those stations – for example the Russian Government, as well as various multinational companies – not be called to contribute in accordance with the ‘polluter pays’ principle? Furthermore, would it not be fairer if that contribution came from EU countries which themselves benefit from nuclear energy production? It is my strong view that Member States which do not use nuclear energy should not pay for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants in other Member States.

 
  
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  Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL). – (NL) Mr President, more than a third of the 150 European nuclear power stations must be decommissioned in the next 20 years. Who will be footing the bill for this: the taxpayers or the polluters? A lack of funds should not mean that obsolete stations are kept open longer. Waste is more than the radioactive material that is left over following decommissioning. Including the costs of the old fissile materials, transport and mining waste, the external costs are probably a good deal higher than the estimated one billion per nuclear power station.

Mrs Harms is right in suggesting that power companies should, on an annual basis, contribute to a fund covering all costs for decommissioning, processing and the storage of radioactive waste. By factoring these costs into it, the price of nuclear energy will no longer be kept artificially low by means of subsidies, and it will also be evident how low the economic yield is. To this day, the intransparent coupling of civil purposes to military ones still leads to the blatant distortion of competition and disguised export subsidies. We agree with the proposal that a list of decommissioning criteria be drawn up, linked to reserve funds into which electricity companies should pay sufficient funds for waste processing and decommissioning.

 
  
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  Peter Baco (NI). – (SK) Ladies and gentlemen, I would respectfully request your support for the amended proposals of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy concerning the early closure of the V1 nuclear power plant at Jaslovske Bohunice in Slovakia.

In its proposals, the Committee notes that Slovakia is duly fulfilling its responsibilities in this area. The proposals also acknowledge the substantial financial loss that Slovakia will suffer as a result of the early closure of the installation. The loss is due mainly to the fact that early closure of the plant means that the financial resources earmarked for its eventual decommissioning will not now be raised. In addition, the EUR 250 million that the Slovak Republic has recently invested into upgrading the plant in order to secure its long-term operational safety will have been wasted.

The proposed EU budget contribution of EUR 400 million towards the cost of early closure is therefore an essential precondition for meeting the commitments assumed by both the European Union and the Slovak Republic.

 
  
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  Zita Pleštinská (PPE-DE). – (SK) The issue of financing early closure of the Bohunice nuclear power plant is a key priority not only for the nuclear sector, but also for the entire energy policy of the Slovak Republic.

Slovakia is ready to meet its commitment set out in Protocol No. 9 to the EU Accession Treaty, despite the fact that it has invested EUR 250 million into modernising and improving safety at the Bohunice plant. This is in addition to the fact that, like several other EU countries, Slovakia has no important natural energy resources of its own, and the decommissioning of two units of this plant will significantly undermine its energy self-sufficiency.

Public opinion in Slovakia is currently against decommissioning the Bohunice installation. People in Slovakia are very aware of the consequences of the energy crisis and related increases in electricity prices. As a result of this, any denial of the request for more financial resources from the European Union would play into the hands of the opponents of decommissioning.

Backed up by the study that served as the basis for the discussions with the Commission, Slovakia has requested EUR 702 million, as against the EUR 237 million proposed by the Commission. The European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy has approved a compromise of EUR 400 million. I would like to take this opportunity to request that all of you display solidarity with my country, and lend your support to the proposal of the Committee on Industry.

 
  
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  Miloš Koterec (PSE). – (SK) During the EU accession process, the Slovak Republic did its utmost to ensure the continued operation of its VVER-type nuclear power plants, while improving their safety levels to meet European standards in order to protect people in Slovakia and across all the countries of the Union, in particular our neighbours.

During the period of the accession process we invested around EUR 250 million into two units of the Bohunice nuclear power plant, a substantial amount for a country whose GDP is only slightly more than 50% of the EU average, and, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, we thus ensured the safe operation of the installation until 2015.

An outsider might ask: ‘If that is the case, why do you need the money to decommission it in the 2007-2013 budget period?’ The expert would answer: ‘Because Slovakia made a commitment during its EU accession process, under what we may call the pressure of circumstances, to decommission the two units in question in 2006 and 2008, respectively.’ No great mathematical skills are required to see that tens of millions of euro will thus have been wasted.

However, we were given assurances that the Union would help us with the decommissioning. If the total direct and indirect costs of decommissioning amounted to several million euro, then the sum of EUR 237 million proposed by the Commission would be quite low. Of course, as Mrs Harms suggests in her second report, Slovakia supports the creation of special funds for the decommissioning of nuclear installations, and is ready to cover a substantial part of the total decommissioning costs itself. Nevertheless, levels of economic development should also be taken into account. If, according to expert estimates, the assistance needed to meet the deadline is EUR 702 million, the compromise amount of EUR 400 million proposed by the Committee on Industry clearly seems acceptable, and there are a number of arguments showing that this amount should not be a problem even for the final version of the budget.

I believe that both the reports we have just discussed have one common denominator, which is the safety of nuclear installations. If there is a common aim in the EU to follow a specific timetable regarding this issue, there must also be a common aim to provide the necessary funding for this purpose. If these two aims do not go hand in hand it would, in my opinion, lead to the Union sooner or later having to face the consequences of such inconsistencies.

 
  
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  Andris Piebalgs, Member of the Commission. Mr President, I will start by thanking the rapporteur for her very correct and deep analysis of the challenges concerning decommissioning.

As regards the Bohunice issue, firstly the decision to close the reactors was based on safety reasons. In the European Union, WENRA –the Western European Nuclear Regulators’ Association – decides on the safety requirements in particular Member States. It proposed that those types of reactors were not upgradable, not because they came from the former Soviet Union, but because of their technical characteristics. That was why the closure of those reactors was requested during the negotiations. That information was known early on, and so the negotiations took into account all the possible consequences. The decision was not taken in the last package: in many cases, including cases in the Slovak Republic, governments made early commitments to close particular reactors, for example those in Bohunice. That is why I reject the argument that political pressure was exerted: the decision was based on the analyses made by those responsible for nuclear safety in the European Union. That is a fact.

Negotiations have been conducted accordingly, and all possible implications have been taken into account, not just decommissioning but other issues too. That is also why we have different protocols for Lithuania and Slovakia.

I realise that decommissioning is a huge task, but I can clearly explain the basis for the Commission’s proposal: it was based on the results of the accession negotiations. Any other issue should be based on other considerations, but at this stage we are unable to move on to other considerations.

My services are in close contact with the Slovak authorities to discuss the challenge. However, this is clearly a commitment that was approved by the European Union citizens and the Slovak citizens in the accession negotiations and it must be honoured, not only from the EU side but also from the Slovak side. It is, therefore, a challenge that we should face together.

At the same time, there is a question mark over whether decommissioning funds should be used at a time when all the reactors have been operational and are still operational: if you do not have the decommissioning fund, the price is cheaper. But then, at the end of the day, who is paying? Taxpayers? Other citizens? This really is a global challenge.

The debate today, at this late hour, is very relevant. The Commission has already tried to make legislative proposals on the decommissioning funds because they are essential for competitiveness inside the European Union and for clarifying who will pay for them. I agree entirely that the polluter should pay. That element should be included in the price.

The Commission will prepare a recommendation and will insist on the sufficient and transparent use of decommissioning funds that should be available when required. That is the basic truth that we should confront when discussing nuclear energy. Competition issues definitely will not be excluded from the debate, because it is very important to know what support schemes we are providing for other parts of our energy mix. That is a very relevant issue.

I thank you very much for the debate tonight. I am really pleased it was so detailed. We should continue this debate when we discuss energy issues.

(Applause)

 
  
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  President.   The debate is closed.

The vote will take place on Wednesday at 12 noon.

 
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