RECOMMENDATION on the proposal for a Council decision authorising the Member States which are Contracting Parties to the Paris Convention of 29 July 1960 on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy to ratify, in the interest of the European Community, the Protocol amending that Convention, or to accede to it
(14305/2003 – C5‑0611/2003 – 2003/0150(AVC))

29 January 2004 - ***

Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market
Rapporteur: Sir Neil MacCormick

PROCEDURAL PAGE

By letter of 2 December 2003 the Council requested Parliament's assent, under Article 300(3) second subparagraph, in conjunction with Article 61 paragraph c), Article 67 and Article 300(2) first subparagraph of the EC Treaty, on the proposal for a Council decision authorising the Member States which are Contracting Parties to the Paris Convention of 29 July 1960 on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy to ratify, in the interest of the European Community, the Protocol amending that Convention, or to accede to it (14305/2003 –2003/0150(AVC)).

At the sitting of 15 December 2003 the President of Parliament announced that he had referred the proposal to the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market as the committee responsible and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy and to the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy for their opinions (C5‑0611/2003).

The Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market had appointed Sir Neil MacCormick rapporteur at its meeting of 2 October 2003.

The committee considered the proposal for a Council decision and draft recommendation at its meetings of 6 November 2003, 26 and 27 January 2004.

At the latter/last meeting it adopted the draft legislative resolution unanimously.

The following were present for the vote: Giuseppe Gargani(chairman), Willi Rothley (vice-chairman), Ioannis Koukiadis (vice-chairman), Bill Miller (vice-chairman), Sir Neil MacCormick (rapporteur), Uma Aaltonen, Marie-Françoise Garaud, Evelyne Gebhardt, José María Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado, Lord Inglewood, Kurt Lechner, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Toine Manders, Hans-Peter Mayer (for Malcolm Harbour), Arlene McCarthy, Manuel Medina Ortega, Anne-Marie Schaffner, Francesco Enrico Speroni (for Alexandre Varaut), Diana Wallis, Joachim Wuermeling.

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy decided on 9 September 2003 not to deliver an opinion.

The Committee on Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy decided on 21 January 2004 not to deliver an opinion.

The recommendation was tabled on 29 January 2004.

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a Council decision authorising the Member States which are Contracting Parties to the Paris Convention of 29 July 1960 on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy to ratify, in the interest of the European Community, the Protocol amending that Convention, or to accede to it

(14305/2003 – C5‑0611/2003 – 2003/0150(AVC))

(Assent procedure)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the proposal for a Council decision (14305/2003)[1],–   having regard to the request for assent submitted by the Council pursuant to Article 300(3) second subparagraph, in conjunction wiht Article 61 paragraph c), Article 67 and Article 300(2) first subparagraph of the EC Treaty (C5‑0611/2003),

–   having regard to Rule 86(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the recommendation of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market (A5‑0036/2004),

1.   Gives its assent to proposal for a Council decision;

2.   Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

• [1] OJ C ... / Not yet published in OJ.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

1.   The Proposal

The Commission's proposal concerns a Council decision the purpose of which is to authorise those Member States which are contracting parties to the Paris Convention of 1960 on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy ("Convention") to ratify or accede to the Protocol amending that Convention ("Protocol"). Their ratification or accession will take effect in the interest of the European Community. It is envisaged that the Member States in question will deposit their instruments of ratification of the Protocol by the end of 2006. The assent of Parliament is necessary with respect to valid ratification of or accession to the Protocol.

The Convention was adopted in order to provide an adequate and fair compensation to victims of damage caused by nuclear accidents. The Protocol was negotiated with a view to improve the system of compensation. The Protocol in particular: (i) extends the geographical scope of the Convention, (ii) extends the concept of indemnifiable damage, (iii) increases the liability amounts for operators of nuclear installations, and (iv) increases the amount of supplementary funds under the Brussels Supplementary Convention of 31 January 1963 regime (this refers to the additional damage payment system using public funds).

Ratification or accession to the Protocol involves the competence both of the Community and of the Member States. The Community has exclusive jurisdiction with regard to amending Article 13 of the Convention where such amendment would affect the rules laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters. The Member States retain their jurisdiction for matters covered by the Protocol but not affecting Community law.

Austria, Ireland and Luxembourg are not parties to the Convention and they will not sign the Protocol. Denmark will not take part in the adoption of the proposed Decisions and will not be bound by or subject to their application. The UK and Ireland are bound by the Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 and they will take part in the adoption of the proposed Decision.

It should also be noted that out of the 10 acceding countries, only Slovenia is a party to the Convention, although nuclear energy constitutes energy source in other accessing countries as well.

All Member States should be encouraged to become parties to the Convention.

2.   The Rapporteur's Position

Your rapporteur is of the opinion that the present enhancement of obligations of compensation should be welcomed for its own sake. It is, however, regrettable that there continue to be limitations on liability for nuclear accidents, which in principle create a privileged position for nuclear energy as against other energy sources. This point was noted in the context of Manders report on the proposal for a directive on environmental liability aimed at preventing and remedying of environmental damage (adopted in second reading by the EP on 17 December 2003). In the Second Reading debate on 15 December 2003, Commissioner Bolkestein advised against adoption of amendments extending the “polluter pays” principle to nuclear accidents on the ground that the present instrument deals with these. It is therefore a matter of regret to note that even the present extension of liability falls well short of full implementation of the “polluter pays” principle. Your rapporteur therefore supports the call for a gap analysis of the relevant international conventions and Community legislation in particular in the area of liability for nuclear damage.

It is urgent to get the new protocol into operation and the Parliament should act in this regard without delay using the proposed legal basis.