HC Deb 17 September 2004 vol 424 c1849W
Llew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the revised proposed legislative texts produced by the European Commission on the safety of nuclear installations and radioactive waste management, released on 8 September 2004; what evaluation has been made of the differences between the new texts and those in the proposed council directives Cmd. 2003/32, released in January 2003; and what comments on these proposals were made by the United Kingdom to the Commission. [189102]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

On 8 September 2004, the College of Commissioners agreed to adopt the European Commission's revised proposals dealing with nuclear installation safety and radioactive waste management and these were formally circulated to Member States on 14 September 2004. A full evaluation is being made readiness for discussions in the relevant Council Working Group. However, the texts do not differ greatly from those considered by the Council under the Irish Presidency. The UK has made it clear to the Commission on several occasions that it would prefer any Community initiative in these fields to be developed on the basis of non-legally binding instruments.