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brussels, 3 march 2003
one hundred civil society groups say
“abolish euratom!”
Over one hundred civil society
organisations from 29 countries across Europe
have this week called upon the Convention on
the Future of Europe to back moves to scrap a
forty-five year old European Union agreement
dedicated to promoting the nuclear
industry.
In a Declaration presented to Convention
members today (full text below), the groups
describe the Euratom Treaty, signed in 1957,
as out of date, undemocratic and biased
towards nuclear power over other energy
options. They call for the abandonment of
Euratom - the only remaining sector-specific
EU Treaty - as part of the process of drawing
up a new European constitution.
Scrapping the Euratom agreement ends an
unacceptable situation in which EU states are
forced to support nuclear against their
wishes. Most states either do not have or are
phasing out atomic generation due to concerns
about health, safety, economics, and the
difficulties of radioactive waste.
An end to Euratom would not however impose
a nuclear phase out on individual states.
Instead, the Declaration seeks a new European
constitution that reflects “the prevailing
views of European citizens today” and under
which all energy options have “equal
treatment, based on the full internalisation
of associated costs”.
"Euratom is out of date, undemocratic and
biased," said Mark Johnston, Friends of the
Earth’s European Nuclear Campaigner. "It is a
relic from the past and well overdue for
repeal. An enlarged EU needs an energy
strategy focused on the development of
sustainable energy options, rather than
special favours for the discredited nuclear
sector. The Convention and Inter-Governmental
Conference offer an unprecedented opportunity
to finally get rid of Euratom. Not to do so
would risk a new Constitution being blighted
by a nuclear legacy no one wants.
Contact:
Mark Johnston (London) +44 79 7331 9249
Martin Rocholl (Brussels) +32 2542 0183
1. The full text of the Declaration to
Abolish Euratom and the names of the
organisations supporting it follow below. The
European Convention is due officially to
consider the Euratom question in the near
future, and will present all its
recommendations to European heads of state
later this year.
2. Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE)
pledges to continue the Euratom abolition
campaign, believing that a new Constitution
promoting nuclear power will be far less
likely to win the backing of European
citizens. FoEE has also called for the
European Commission to suspend its proposed
new Euratom measures – including more
financial support for the nuclear industry
and arbitrary deadlines for national
radioactive waste dumps – until the Euratom
Treaty framework itself has been radically
overhauled.
read more at the
foe-europe website
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