WRITTEN QUESTION E-2585/99 by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Data on nuclear pollution of oceans.
C 330 E/24 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 21. 11. 2000 (2000/C 330 E/025) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2585/99 by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission (11 January 2000) Subject: Data on nuclear pollution of oceans 1. Where and in what context does the Commission publish the data it receives concerning this problem? 2. Are the requirements of the directive on environmental information satisfied? 3. Is this information available to the questioner? 4. What happens to the data evaluation by independent bodies (e. g. the University of Wales or other universities) and what conclusions does the Commission draw from it? Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission (15 February 2000) The Commission periodically publishes data relating to environmental radioactivity and to radioactive effluents from nuclear power stations and nuclear fuel reprocessing plants in the Community. The former are based on information on environmental radioactivity levels communicated to the Commission under the terms of Article 36 of the Euratom Treaty, and the latter have been based on data presented to the Commission in pursuance of Article 8(a) of the Commissionís Recommendation 19/4/Euratom of 7 December 1990 on the application of Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty (1). This recommendation has recently been revised by Commission Recommendation 1999/829/Euratom (2). to provide full access to information on environmental The Commission thus seeks, at all radioactivity, in compliance with Council Directive 90/313/EEC of 7 June 1990 on the freedom of access to information on the environment (3). times, The Commission also carries out specific assessments and evaluations, which include consideration of information available from other sources, such as the Marína series relating to radioactivity in Northern European waters (to which the reply to the Honourable Memberís written question P-2524/99 (4) is also relevant), the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. All the documents mentioned above are available from the Commission (5). In carrying out assessments within the Marína series of studies, the Commission takes account of a wide range of relevant information available and input from a number of expert bodies and individuals. (1) OJ L 6, 9. 1. 1991. (2) OJ L 324, 16. 12. 1999. (3) OJ L 158, 23. 6. 1990. (4) OJ C 280 E, 3. 10. 2000, p. 63. (5) Radiation Protection 110 in preparation, Radiation Protection 104 (ISBN 92-828-6098-I), Radiation Protection 94 (ISBN 92-828-2140-4), Radiation Protection 69, Radiation Protection 47 (ISBN 92-826-1113-2)