Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

The proposal establishes the Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation and Decommissioning (INSC-D) for the period 2028-2034, replacing the current Euratom instruments in the field of nuclear safety cooperation and decommissioning and merging them into one instrument with an external and an internal component.

The external component of the Instrument aims to strengthen nuclear safety, radiation protection, the safe management of radioactive waste and spent fuel, decommissioning and the application of efficient and effective safeguards of nuclear materials in partner countries.

The internal component supports the decommissioning of the Commission’s nuclear installations at the Joint Research Centre sites, in line with the needs identified in the respective decommissioning plans and to safely manage the associated spent fuel, nuclear material and radioactive waste. In addition, the internal component of the Instrument shall support knowledge deriving from the nuclear decommissioning process and the management of the resulting radioactive waste that will be shared with the Community’s stakeholders.

The rapporteur strongly supports the objectives of both components of the proposed Instrument as guaranteeing a high level of nuclear safety within and outside the European Union is essential for the safety of our citizens and for ensuring confidence and trust in civil nuclear technologies.

The amendments tabled by the rapporteur first seek to clarify and strengthen the promotion of international conventions through the external component of the instrument. They encourage partner countries to accede to these conventions and support IAEA-assisted peer reviews as an objective tool to assess national nuclear safety frameworks and to inform Union programming and prioritisation.

Several amendments reinforce transparency and public information requirements. They include an obligation for the Commission to make relevant information on nuclear safety measures supported by the Instrument available to the European Parliament. Cooperating third countries shall ensure transparency towards the public, with particular attention to local authorities, workers and populations living in the vicinity of nuclear installations. These provisions aim to enhance public trust and accountability, without prejudice to overriding interests such as security.

The amendments also emphasise the need for coordination with international organisations pursuing similar objectives, in particular the International Atomic Energy Agency and the OECD through the Nuclear Energy Agency, to avoid duplication of actions and funding and to ensure coherence with international standards. The involvement of competent authorities of Member States and European operators is also highlighted to improve the effectiveness of Union support.

Moreover, regarding emerging technologies, the amendments introduce a clear safeguard to ensure that Union funding does not support the licensing process of competing non-European technologies in partner countries, by requiring that funding decisions take the European interest and the competitiveness of the Union into account.

Besides, amendments concerning the internal component of the Instrument task the Commission to proactively propose and develop innovative legal and financial instruments capable of addressing the complex long-term uncertainties associated with the potential transfer of the nuclear liabilities of the Joint Research Centre to Member States.

Finally, the amendments also promote coherence and synergies between the different policies of the Union including the Euratom Research and Training Programme and strengthen the governance framework.