The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission report (COM(2001) 436 – C5&nbhy;0535/2001),

–   having regard to Articles 30, 33, Chapter VII and Article 107 of the Euratom Treaty,

–   having regard to the Commission Statement "Nuclear safety fifteen years after Chernobyl", during the plenary on 2 May 2001,

–   having regard to the conclusions of the Cologne European Council which, in connection with the enlargement of the Union, stressed the urgent need to adopt high European safety standards in the nuclear field and called on the Commission to report on progress in this field,

–   having regard to the Commission replies during the EP plenary of 5 February 2002(1),

–   having regard to the Commission replies during the EP plenary of 12 March 2002(2),

–   having regard to the Council Decision concerning the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) for nuclear research and training activities, also contributing to the creation of the European Research Area (2002-2006)(3),

–   having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (A5–0196/2002),

A.   whereas the Euratom Treaty refers to the need for protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiations and entitles the Commission to make appropriate recommendations for harmonising the provisions applicable in the Member States in the field of nuclear safety,

B.   whereas in its 2000 Annual report, the European Court of Auditors deplored the lack of a definition of a European safety standard, and whereas the Council has still not yet taken any action on the matter,

C.   whereas the Euratom Treaty, in Article 107, entitles the European Parliament to submit any appropriate proposal concerning matters on which it considers that a Community act is required for the purpose of implementing the Treaty,

D.   whereas the European Community is supporting research on safety of nuclear reactors and nuclear material by means of the Energy Framework Programme and the Research Framework Programme,

E.   whereas the general public is concerned about the risk of accidents and the release of radioactivity from one of the very many nuclear installations in the Member States and in the candidate countries,

F.   whereas there is a much greater risk of attack of nuclear installations by criminal organisations or terrorist groups since the events of 11 September 2001,

G.   whereas there is no Euratom Directive establishing safety and security standards for the design, construction and operation of nuclear installations in the EU; this competence remains with the Member States,

H.   whereas it would be important to fix clear standards, requirements for uniform training, responsibilities and controls at Community level also in the field of nuclear safety and security, beside nuclear safeguards,

I.   whereas continuous training of inspectors and of those who work with radioactive material and are responsible for nuclear safeguards is particularly important in view of the EU enlargement; whereas such training must be comprehensive and must provide information on the risks involved in the way such material is handled and how to act in the event of an incident or accident;

J.   whereas ESO should extend its high standards in nuclear safeguards to candidate countries; whereas the ESO must be provided with increased resources to allow inspectors to carry out their activities at a greater number of nuclear installations with the same high quality of results as has been the case in the past,

K.   whereas the fundamental standards laying down threshold values for exposure of workers and the general public, adopted by the IAEA and the European Union, must be regularly reviewed so that they are based on the most recent scientific findings,

1.  Greatly appreciates the quality and the results of ESO activities in the period 1999-2000;

2.  Regards it as very positive that the ESO has found no indication that nuclear materials have been diverted from their peaceful use in the European Union during the period 1999-2000;

3.  Considers it very positive that the ESO has not detected any serious case involving illicit trafficking in nuclear materials in the European Union during the period 1999-2000;

4.  Considers it necessary that safeguard activities should remain under the direct responsibility of ESO after the candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe join the Community;

5.  Stresses the need to allocate sufficient budgetary resources to the ESO to enable it to give its inspectors adequate training in the light of the office"s increased workload in the run-up to the enlargement of the European Union;

6.  Calls for an increase in the ESO"s general budget in order to deal with the constant increase in the quantity and nature of nuclear material under the ESO"s control, particularly with a view to the enlargement of the European Union;

7.  Calls for an improved collaboration between ESO, JRC and IAEA, in the fields of data security, training of personnel, setting up of new instruments and techniques;

8.  Calls for the Commission to define a regulatory framework in the fields of data security and secured data transmission;

9.  Calls for reinforced protection of data at ESO headquarters against cyber-crime; to this purpose, recommends that the possibility be considered of keeping the ESO data network physically isolated from the outside world, besides making use of software firewall;

10.  Emphasises the need for the Commission to set key requirements for the physical protection of nuclear sites, nuclear materials, and transport intended for such materials;

11.  Urges the Commission to propose a directive regulating, and guaranteeing a high level of, security during transport, including during loading and unloading, of nuclear materials, on the basis of the IAEA Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material;

12.  Calls on the Commission to prepare a detailed report on existing legislation in force on nuclear safety and the security and safeguarding of nuclear materials;

13.  Calls for greater clarification from the ESO of cases where discrepancies were found during inspections or material balance evaluations; furthermore, calls for the ESO to give further explanations and justifications for the margin of error built into the "material unaccounted for" – MUF – figures and calls for these margins to be significantly reduced over time to increase the accuracy of accounting for fissile material;

14.  Encourages the Commission to propose a directive to fix a reference framework for all activities of auditing and certification in the field of nuclear safety, security and safeguard;

15.  Proposes that the creation, within the Commission, of an independent nuclear safety and security office be considered, which should directly supervise, in close collaboration with the IAEA, the operators in the Member States, as the ESO is doing in the field of nuclear safeguards;

16.  Calls for the European Convention to modify the Euratom Treaty in order to bring nuclear safety and security under the responsibility of a Community authority, as the issue of nuclear safeguards is under the responsibility of ESO;

17.  Considers that the European Convention might give thought to the role of the Euratom Treaty in the context of the forthcoming reform of the Community institutions;

18.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Committee of the Regions, the Economic and Social Committee, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and of the candidate countries.

(1) Reply to H-0030/02, n° 39, 5.2.2002. (2) Reply to H-0093/02, n° 41, 12.3.2002. (3) Council decision 5609/02, 1.2.2002.