Activites

• 1994/12/31 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Decision 1994/920
  • OJ L 361 31.12.1994, p. 0143
• #1817
• 1994/12/15 Council Meeting
• 1994/12/15 End of procedure in Parliament
• 1994/12/15 Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
• #1810
• 1994/12/01 Council Meeting
• 1994/11/18 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0148/1994 summary

    "Horizontal" amendments to the specific programmes. As with its consideration of the 12 specific programmes approved by the EP at the end of the previous parliamentary term, the EP adopted horizontal amendments which dealt with the same issues but which were located in different places in the texts of the individual projects. These amendments related to: 1) the EP's prerogatives with regard to the budget: the Committee on Research felt that the final amounts for the programmes should be adopted by the budgetary authority in accordance with the resources available under the financial perspective and the relative priority laid down for the fields covered by the various programmes. 2) the progress made in implementing the programmes: as far as the committee was concerned, any increase in the overall maximum amount of the Fourth Framework Programme for RTD would depend, in particular, on the evaluation of the progress made in implementing the programmes; in this respect, it stressed that for the progress to be deemed satisfactory, it was important for the first commitments of appropriations to be effected within a period of 12 months following the adoption of the programme in question. 3) the need to speed up the selection procedures and make them more transparent: it was important to simplify and speed up the application and selection procedures in order to make it easier for small and medium-sized entreprises, research centres and universities to take part in the specific programmes. 4) information for the EP: the work programme drawn up by the Commission setting out in detail the scientific and technological objectives and specifying the stages in the implementation of the programme as well as the proposed financial arrangements should be forwarded to the EP along with any updated versions. 5) comitology: the EP reiterated its support for consultative committees rather than regulatory committees. It also recommended that any expenses involved in taking part in the committees should be borne by the Member States. 6) international agreements: the EP proposed extending the scope of the negotiations undertaken by the Commission with a view to involving, through international agreements, third countries in Europe in the RTD programmes, so as to also include third countries in the Mediterranean. Safety and nuclear safeguards. The EP amended the title of this programme to include radiation protection together with nuclear safety. It adopted all the "horizontal amendments". It stressed the need for permanent and systematic monitoring of the progress of this programme with a view to adapting it to changes in the future. The EP should be informed of changes in advance. In future, the programme should be evaluated on a regular basis by independent experts. Despite progress on technical aspects and regulations, nuclear energy was far from being universally accepted. As a result, and with a view to achieving a high level of nuclear safety, the EP proposed the joint setting of priorities with a harmonised approach to standards. It pointed out that it was important to improve understanding and quantification of the global risk associated with nuclear energy in order to take account of the concern felt by the public and to provide it with correct information on the various aspects of nuclear energy (management of the fuel cycle, exposure to radiation, industrial applications and research establishments, in accident conditions and normal operating conditions, illegal traffic in nuclear materials, etc.). Among the activities proposed, the EP recommended that consideration be given to the possibilities offered by advanced thermal reactors, passive control of reactivity, long-term storage, etc. It called for the urgent development of concepts for finding suitable sites to store nuclear waste and proof of the suitability of any potential site. In this respect, it was important to validate appropriate computer programmes. It called for an improvement in the safety culture of nuclear energy. In order to achieve a common approach on these issues, the Community should involve the safety authorities and the constructors and operators of nuclear or radioactive plants and establishments for medical or industrial purposes. With regard to the shutdown of nuclear installations, it proposed that studies be carried out of existing shutdown technologies, the development of various alternatives and their practical application, particularly in Eastern Europe; it also called for the completion of the databases on shutdown in cooperation with East European experts. Finally, with regard to the indicative breakdown of the amount allocated, it recommended a reduction in the percentage set aside for staff and administrative expenditure (12% of the overall envelope instead of the 17.5% proposed by the Commission); it also proposed an increase in the appropriations to finance fundamental research activities (30% of the overall envelope instead of the 15% proposed by the Commission). �

• 1994/11/17 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1994/11/14 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0068/1994
• 1994/04/18 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1994/03/30 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(1994)0070 summary

    The purpose of this proposal for a decision is to establish a specific programme in research and training for the European Atomic Energy Community in the field of nuclear safety and safeguards for the period 1994-1998. - Amount deemed necessary: ECU 160 million. - General objectives of the programme: to stimulate European collaboration, develop a global approach to improve the understanding and quantification of the overall risk associated with the management of the entire fuel cycle and exposure to ionising radiation from all sources and ensure opportunities for training and mobility of scientific staff. The projects decided on will cover the following activities: - exploring new concepts of safety and waste management; - reactor safety in the event of serious accident; - closing the nuclear cycle with projects to evaluate the safety of geological storage of long-life waste and support studies; - the radiological impact on man (understanding, measuring, reducing, quantifying risk); - historical obligations as a result of the Chernobyl and other accidents. The programme will be implemented through shared cost actions, concerted actions, specific measures and accompanying measures relating to international cooperation, the dissemination of results and the training and mobility of researchers. The Commission is authorised to start negotiations with a view to concluding international agreements with third European countries and with international organisations, in order to associate them with all or part of the programme.�

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(1994)0070
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A4-0068/1994
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0148/1994
• : Decision 1994/920
• : OJ L 361 31.12.1994, p. 0143

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)