§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the European Commission's response to criticisms by the Court of Auditors, in special report 25/98, of the expenditure undertaken on nuclear safety in Central and Eastern Europe and in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union between 1990 and 1997; and if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of the use of the resources provided by the United Kingdom for nuclear safety improvements under the Tacis and Phare programmes. [78152]
§ Mr. FoulkesI have been asked to reply.
Whilst Her Majesty's Government (HMG) welcome the various steps the European Commission has taken over the past year to improve the speed of project delivery in the field of nuclear safety, there is a need for the Commission to be more open to taking on board concerns raised in the Court of Auditors report.
These reflect various issues which HMG have raised with the Commission in recent years, in particular the inflexible and arcane bureaucratic procedures and the failure to make a clear distinction between the type of on-site assistance projects directed at the higher risk reactors (which should be closed as soon as practicable) and those which benefit plants of more recent design.
HMG will continue to work, through the relevant Management Committees for Phare and Tacis and other channels, and in the negotiation of the new Tacis 447W regulation, in an effort to give a more focused strategic direction for the programme and to make further improvements to quality, speed and effectiveness. We welcome the Commission's intention to reform the Financial Regulation, which governs the rules on spending of all EC money, and the steps now being taken to rationalise the tendering and contracting procedures for external aid programmes. HMG believe that a well managed Tacis/Phare Nuclear Safety programme is capable of playing a key role in the wider international effort to enhance safety levels in partner countries in the region.