EURATOM: a can of worms at the heart of the Constitution?

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"Nobody contests that the Euratom Treaty is outdated, undemocratic and dangerous.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.