WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2172/98 by Hiltrud BREYER to the Commission. Castor shipments in breach of EU law
8. 4. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/51 (1999/C 96/072) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2172/98 by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission (10 July 1998) Subject: Castor shipments in breach of EU law Can the Commission say what action it will take following the violation by Member States of EU legislation on radiation protection, namely Council Directives 92/3/Euratom (1) of 3 February 1992 and 96/29/Euratom (2) of 13 May 1996, in the case of the Castor shipments? (1) OJ L 35, 12. 2. 1992, p. 24. (2) OJ L 159, 29. 6. 1996, p. 1. Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (3 September 1998) It should be noted that Directive 96/29/Euratom of 13 May 1996 laying down basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionizing radiation will only come into effect in May 2000. Directives 80/836/Euratom of 15 July 1980 (1) and 84/467/Euratom of 3 September 1984 (2) remain valid until that time. However, the Commission has no evidence of any breach of the provisions of any of these three directives or of Directive 92/3/Euratom of 3 February 1992 on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste between Member States and into and out of the Community. As to possible future actions, the Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its statement in the Plenary session of the Parliament of 17 June 1998 (3). (1) OJ L 246, 17. 9. 1980. (2) OJ L 265, 5. 10. 1984. (3) Verbatim report of proceedings 17 June 1998, provisional edition, p. 20. (1999/C 96/073) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2176/98 by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (10 July 1998) Subject: Report on quality control of 2nd CSF projects The report drawn up following the quality control of projects carried out under the second CSF concludes that nearly half of the regional development projects jointly funded by the EU are technically deficient and will have to be rectified or even redone because they were carried out on the basis of faulty studies or using sub-standard materials or do not comply with the stipulations of the contract. The report states that sample quality controls of materials revealed that about 50 % of contractors had not complied with specifications. This applied to all materials except asphalt, for which the figure rose to around 70 %. Is this information correct and what does the Commission intend to do to ensure that measures are taken at government level to compel the contractors responsible to carry out the necessary alterations or the entire project again in order to comply with their contractual obligations, wherever these have been breached?