WRITTEN QUESTION E-0983/00 by Gerhard Schmid (PSE) to the Commission. Safety monitoring by Euratom.
20. 2. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 53 E/49 Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission (12 May 2000) The Honourable Member states that the Mediterranean regional office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural resources (IUCN) is located in Malaga. While the latest information suggests that the location is likely to be Malaga it remains the Commissionís understanding that to date the IUCN and the Spanish and local authorities are still negotiating the agreement for the opening of the IUCN office for the Mediterranean in Spain and that therefore an office address is not yet officially available. The Member responsible for the environment has no plans to visit any of IUCNís offices in Europe at present. However, even though the Commission is not a member of IUCN, it has regular contacts with the organisation including visiting its offices whenever necessary for furthering several joint initiatives. (2001/C 53 E/056) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0983/00 by Gerhard Schmid (PSE) to the Commission (31 March 2000) Subject: Safety monitoring by Euratom As long ago as 1988, in a joint resolution on the findings of the Committee of Inquiry on the handling and transport of nuclear material (1), Parliament called for measures áto increase the credibility and effectiveness of the safeguardsí. It called for the Safeguards Directorate to be hived off from Directorate- General XVII (currently part of the TREN DG), responsible for the promotion of nuclear energy, and for an increase in the number of inspectors. In view of the drastic increase in the volume of plutonium handled, in particular in the large reprocessing and MOX fuel element production plants in France and Great Britain, once again it is imperative to know whether Euratom safety monitoring can be carried out at the level required. In the light of Parliamentís resolution in 1988, has the Commission taken steps to safeguard the 1. organisational independence of the Euratom Safeguards Directorate? If so, what steps? If not, why not? 2. What action has the Commission taken to give the Safeguards Directorate sufficient financial and human resources to enable it to cope with the increase in nuclear material that is handled? 3. What other action has the Commission taken to implement Paragraph 7 of the resolution in question? 4. What action is the Commission planning to take in this area in the near future? (1) OJ C 235, 12. 9. 1988, p. 70. Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission (5 June 2000) 1. The Commission would inform the Honourable Member that the Euratom Safeguards Directorate was transformed in 1999 into an áofficeí which now reports directly to the Vice President of the Commission responsible for Energy and Transport. Administratively, however, the Euratom Safeguards Office continues to be attached to the Directorate general for Energy and Transport. The issue is under review and the Commission is expected to consider a proposal on the matter by mid-2000. C 53 E/50 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 20. 2. 2001 The complexity of nuclear installations and the civil nuclear material quantities handled in the 2. Community have increased by a factor of more than two (240 %) since the resolution of the Parliament mentioned by the Honourable Member. The Commission informed the Council already in 1989 that significant additional inspection resources would be needed. The staff was augmented from 234 to 274 posts (May 2000). The Commission also performed strict rationalisation including the use of automated safeguards systems. 3. The Commission has acted on the majority of the issues addressed in Article 7 of the resolution. Unannounced inspections were carried out wherever feasible and economical, the protection of data is secured by the physical separation of the Euratom databases from the network of the Commission, and a policy has been developed and implemented for the safeguarding of nuclear waste material. 4. The Commission is in the process of undertaking a comprehensive review of all the activities of its services pursuant to the Euratom Treaty. The placement of the Euratom Safeguards Office, the way it conducts its activities and the priorities assigned to it are an integral part of the review. After its completion the Commission will draw the necessary conclusions. (2001/C 53 E/057) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0989/00 by Jean-Claude Martinez (TDI) to the Commission (29 March 2000) Subject: Community preference for nuts, chestnuts and carob beans Throughout Europe approximately 300 000 families are involved in the production of almonds, hazelnuts, chestnuts and carob beans. However, since its needs far outstrip production, the European Union leads the world in imports of almonds, (74 % of which are supplied by the United States), hazelnuts (75 % produced by Turkey) and walnuts from California and China. The lowering of customs duties to 2 % in accordance with the Marrakesh Agreements threatens to wipe out nut production in Europe, which cannot reduce its production costs to the social and environmental dumping levels in Turkey, China and the United States. Almond, chestnut and walnut plantations protect the soil and the environment and are a source of employment and balance in the countryside. Although in ten years the European Union has invested € 725 million in the sector, today there is no one specific aid instrument dedicated to it. Does the Commission intend to set aside funding, even if only as part of environmental and rural policy, to provide adequate financing for this sector, the disappearance of which would prove a great deal more costly than ensuring its survival? What practical, specific and workable measures does the Commission intend to adopt? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (29 May 2000) Specific aid has been granted to the nut sector for 10 years under the provisions of Title IIa of Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 of the Council of 18 May 1972 on the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables (1) in order to improve productivity and competitiveness. Community expenditure from 1990 to 1999 was € 725 million. A further expenditure of over € 250 million for improvement plans still in operation is foreseen until 2006. An additional specific flat-rate aid for hazelnuts has been granted since 1997 and up to the year 2000. Such specific aid was always intended to be temporary and degressive, in order to allow a shift of financial responsibility on to the growers