§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the potential environmental effects of French nuclear weapons tests at Mururoa upon the British dependent territory of Pitcairn; and whether the French Government have provided Her Majesty's Government with any assessment of the environmental consequences of its nuclear testing programme at Mururoa and Fangataufa in French Polynesia since 1966 upon British dependent territories in the Pacific. [33480]
§ Mr. David DavisPresident Chirac has given an assurance that the planned tests will not cause any harm to the environment. He also issued an invitation to experts to visit the area to verify this for themselves. The French Government have made it clear that all the tests will take place underground. We are not in a position to conduct an independent assessment; the French Government have not provided the United Kingdom with environmental impact assessments of their previous tests in the south Pacific.
§ Mr. SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what requirements exist for European Union member state countries to inform (i) the Council, (ii) the Commission and (iii) Euratom over plans to conduct nuclear tests in the territories of the European Union or overseas dependent territories of the Union; and what such notifications have been made in the last year. [32887]
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§ Mr. Davis[holding answer 6 July 1995]: There is no requirement under the treaty on European Union or the Community treaties—including the Euratom treaty—for a member state to give notification of plans to carry out nuclear weapons tests. A member state could if it wished give such notification in the context of the common foreign and security policy. None has been given in recent years.