WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2724/98 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. Protection of cultural monuments of Kosovo
C 135/104 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 14. 5. 1999 (1999/C 135/122) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2722/98 by Leonie van Bladel (UPE) to the Council (1 September 1998) Subject: Doubts about the safety of a nuclear power plant in Cuba 1. Is the Council aware that work has been resumed on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Juragua, Cuba, which was begun in 1981 and stopped in 1992, although the building was described as ramshackle in a recent report in ‘The Independent’? Is the Council prepared to seek information as to the safety of both the building and the reactors 2. which, it is claimed, will be ready to go on stream within four years? 3. What prospects does Cuba’s observer status under the Convention of Lomé offer for the finding of a solution to this issue which will be satisfactory and safe for Cuba in particular and for the region and the world in general, and is the Council prepared to make use of this new political relationship between the EU and Cuba? Reply (16 November 1998) 1. The question raised by the Honourable Member has not been discussed by the Council. In any case, such a question could be discussed in the framework not of Euratom but of the 2. Convention on Nuclear Safety, to which Cuba (having signed the Convention on 20 September 1994) and the Member States of the EU are party. The objectives of that Convention are: i) ii) to achieve and maintain a high level of nuclear safety worldwide through national measures and international cooperation; to establish and maintain effective defences in nuclear installations against potential radiological hasards in order to protect individuals, society and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation from such installations; iii) to prevent accidents with radiological consequences and to mitigate such consequences should they occur. Article 5 states that ‘each Contracting Party shall submit for review, prior to each meeting referred to in Article 20, a report on the measures it has taken to implement each of the obligations of this Convention’. Neither the existing Lomé Convention nor the negotiating proposal for a future Lomé Convention 3. contain provisions on this matter. It is also pointed out to the Honourable Member that Cuba’s observer status at the forthcoming negotiations is without prejudice to any future decision on its accession to the Lomé Convention. (1999/C 135/123) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2724/98 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission Subject: Protection of cultural monuments of Kosovo (1 September 1998) Large numbers of Orthodox and Muslim monuments in Kosovo are under serious threat of destruction as a result of the armed hostilities in the region. Since the EU regards the protection of the cultural heritage of