Press release - July 9, 2003
Greenpeace activists deliver 15 barrels of fake radioactive waste to the doors of the European Parliament
As the final session of the Convention on the Future of Europe
was about to begin in Brussels today, Greenpeace activists
delivered 15 barrels of fake radioactive waste to the doors of the
European Parliament, to protest the proposal by Valery Giscard
d'Estaing to include the 1957 Euratom Treaty in the new
Constitution.
If Convention members agree to this proposal they will be
accepting that the promotion of nuclear power should be enshrined
in the European Constitution, giving the nuclear industry a
preferential institutional and financial framework.
Such a decision would be in stark contrast with the fundamental
principles of sustainable development as well as with the principle
of fair competition, which requires a level playing field for all
energy sources.
"Nobody contests that the Euratom Treaty is outdated,
undemocratic and dangerous. Yet France's former nuclear President
has succeeded in placing the promotion of nuclear power into the
heart of the new Constitution," said Mahi Sideridou of Greenpeace.
"It's now up to Convention members. They can either bow to Giscard
and let him have his way or stand up to him and say no to
nuclear."
Numerous individual Convention members have demanded the
deletion of the Euratom Treaty from the text which now being
finalised. Nevertheless, this issue has been ignored by the
Praesidium and a full plenary discussion has never taken place on
this important matter.
Greenpeace is also concerned that there has not been sufficient
examination of the legal implications of the Praesidium's approach.
One of the significant consequences, the environmental group says,
is that the proposal would change the legal personality of the
European Atomic Community, making it an integral part of the future
Union. It would also alter the financial rules of the Treaty, the
implications of which are unclear. Some legal experts fear that
this would allow additional sources of funding for nuclear power
projects (e.g. through the European Investment Bank).
The Convention meets for its final sessions today and tomorrow.
The next phase of the Constitution process will commence in October
at the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC). If the Convention fails
to resolve this threat, then it will be up to the IGC to do so.