BETA


2010/2104(INI) Efficiency and effectiveness of EU funding in the area of decommissioning nuclear power plants in the new Member States

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead CONT MARINESCU Marian-Jean (icon: PPE PPE)
Committee Opinion ITRE BALČYTIS Zigmantas (icon: S&D S&D) Vladimir URUTCHEV (icon: PPE PPE)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54

Events

2011/04/05
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2011/04/05
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the efficiency and effectiveness of EU funding in the area of decommissioning nuclear power plants in the new Member States.

The resolution recalls that the three EU candidate countries, Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria, operated old nuclear power plants (NPPs) which were agreed to be closed, and the accession negotiations led to early fixed closure dates for the units in the three NPPs concerned.

Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria have fulfilled their accession treaty commitments to close the respective units in the three NPPs in a timely manner: (a) Ignalina NPP Unit 1 was shut down on 31 December 2004 and Unit 2 on 31 December 2009; (b) Bohunice V1 NPP Unit 1 was shut down on 31 December 2006 and Unit 2 on 31 December 2008; (c) Kozloduy NPP Units 1 and 2 were shut down on 31 December 2002 and Units 3 and 4 on 31 December 2006.

Financial assistance : the EU recognised that the early shut-down and subsequent decommissioning of these units in the three NPPs represented a significant financial and economical burden which could not be fully covered by the Member States concerned, and therefore the Treaties of Accession, as well as subsequent Council Regulations for the implementation of these Treaties, provided for financial assistance to the respective Member States. Community assistance shall support these three Member States in coping with the financial and economical burden caused by early fixed closure dates, and to cover the cost of many important decommissioning activities, invest in energy projects with the aim of reducing energy dependency and help to mitigate the social impact of the decommissioning of the power plants.

Total financial assistance from the EU to the three Member States until the end of 2013 comes to EUR 2 847.78 million . Whilst differences among the NPPs exist, especially as regards fuel storage, in principle the programmes share the same technology. However, that there are considerable differences in the allocated amounts: Ignalina (2 units) EUR 1 367 million; Bohunice (2 units): EUR 613 million; and Kozloduy (4 units) EUR 867.78 million. The resolution notes that in all three cases the costs for decommissioning of the power plants have exceeded the planned EU assistance , and are also likely to exceed the initial estimates. A high share of the funds was used for energy projects and not for the main aim of the financial assistance, namely NPP decommissioning, and the decommissioning itself is still in its initial stage.

Finalise plans : stressing the importance of the issue of safety, Parliament notes with concern that the detailed decommissioning plans of the three decommissioning programmes in question have not yet been finalised. It urges the relevant national bodies to finalise the plans. The Commission is asked to provide a detailed long-term financial planning of the decommissioning projects and describe the scope of the EU financing required to accomplish these plans. It is also asked to study ways of altering the EU’s methods of financing decommissioning operations in view of the strategies employed in the Member States, and simplifying the rules on management of the funds in such a way that they do not affect the safety and security of the decommissioning operations.

Ensure follow-up and clarify future financing : noting the completed audits and evaluations, Members consider that, taking into account the large amounts of money involved, the novelty regarding the utilisation of funds, the unknown factors which emerged throughout the process, and the numerous subsequent alterations, adaptations and allocation of additional amounts, the number and scope of the audits performed appear to be insufficient. Parliament regrets the lack of annual reports from the Commission to the European Parliament on the use of financial resources earmarked for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants, and it calls on the Commission to report annually to the Parliament on the improvements in use of the funds and on the likelihood that the accumulated funds for the decommissioning of these specific units in the three NPPs will be absorbed over the next three years.

The ECA audit which is still continuing should clarify certain issues such as whether the funds were used for the purposes for which they were intended, whether there are activities where OLAF is involved, and whether proper coordination among the three existing programmes occurred. As regards future activities to be financed from EU allocated amounts within the 2007-2013 period, Members feel further issues need clarifying, including whether there is still a need for further amounts to be allocated for energy projects or whether it is necessary to focus on the decommissioning projects.

Enhance the coordination of programmes : the resolution stresses that enhanced coordination between the three programmes is needed. It calls on the Commission to set up a Coordination Team, which should be in charge of supervising the elaboration of a final plan with a clear timetable and supervising the use of money allocated so far. The Commission is also called upon to explore possible ways of harmonising approaches to the funding of decommissioning in the EU in order to ensure timely accumulation of the necessary financial resources without compromising the safety and security of the decommissioning process.

Ignalina NPP : the resolution notes with concern that key waste infrastructure management projects (spent fuel storage and waste repository project) have experienced serious delays that incurred additional costs with respect to original estimates. It calls on the Commission to report on the results of the reassessment of the project timeline. Furthermore, a large part of the funds was allocated to energy projects, considerable financing is still required for decommissioning and national funds are not sufficient to cover this. Parliament calls for appropriate measures to be taken in this respect, particularly by the Member State.

Bohunice NPP : some decommissioning projects, such as the reconstruction of the area’s physical protection system, the historical waste treatment project and construction of the interim storage of RAW at the Bohunice site, have experienced significant delays in their implementation, and Parliament urges the Commission and the Slovakian side to take steps to prevent the delays and to avoid jeopardising the scheduled progress of decommissioning work.

Kozloduy NPP : Members note with concern a rather high share of energy projects in the distribution of allocated public funds, and they call on the Commission to monitor the implementation of the remaining energy projects. They also call for an increase in the proportion of ‘Decommissioning and Waste’ projects in the remaining period of the Kozloduy programme.

Documents
2011/04/05
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2011/04/04
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2011/03/14
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2011/03/13
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2011/03/03
   EP - Vote in committee
Details

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Marian-Jean MARINESCU (EPP, RO) on the efficiency and effectiveness of EU funding in the area of decommissioning nuclear power plants in the new Member States.

The report refers to the old nuclear power plants (NPPS) operated in Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria. The committee notes that Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria have fulfilled their accession treaty commitments to close the respective units in the three NPPs in a timely manner. However, all three Member States tried to re-negotiate their political commitments regarding closing the reactors and this led to delays in the process. The Treaties of Accession, as well as subsequent Council Regulations for the implementation of these Treaties, provided for financial assistance to the respective Member States, but it was not clearly decided whether the assistance should cover the full cost of decommissioning or compensate for all economic consequences. Members note that due to the limited EU experience and data in the field of decommissioning, the financial assistance was decided without the possibility of defining a financial ceiling, and there were still no clear conditions for specification on ceilings even after the plans for decommissioning had been drawn up, which meant that further financial assistance had to be decided on a stage-by-stage and case-by-case basis. Total financial assistance from the EU to the three Member States until the end of 2013 comes to EUR 2 847.78 million. Whilst differences among the NPPs exist, especially as regards fuel storage, in principle the programmes share the same technology. However, that there are considerable differences in the allocated amounts: Ignalina (2 units) EUR 1 367 million; Bohunice (2 units ): EUR 613 million; and Kozloduy (4 units) EUR 867.78 million.

The committee notes that in all three cases the costs for decommissioning of the power plants have exceeded the planned EU assistance , and are also likely to exceed the initial estimates. A high share of the funds was used for energy projects and not for the main aim of the financial assistance, namely NPP decommissioning, and the decommissioning itself is still in its initial stage. Members stress the importance of the issue of safety, noting with concern that the detailed decommissioning plans of the three decommissioning programmes in question have not yet been finalised. They urge the relevant national bodies to finalise the plans. The Commission is asked to provide a detailed long-term financial planning of the decommissioning projects and describe the scope of the EU financing required to accomplish these plans. It is also asked to study ways of altering the EU’s methods of financing decommissioning operations in view of the strategies employed in the Member States, and simplifying the rules on management of the funds in such a way that they do not affect the safety and security of the decommissioning operations.

Members go on to take note of the completed audits and evaluations. They also note the differing situations among the Member States regarding the amounts disbursed in 2009, mostly due to the different timing of the closure. They consider that, taking into account the large amounts of money involved, the novelty regarding the utilisation of funds, the unknown factors which emerged throughout the process, and the numerous subsequent alterations, adaptations and allocation of additional amounts, the number and scope of the audits performed appear to be insufficient. The committee regrets the lack of annual reports from the Commission to the European Parliament on the use of financial resources earmarked for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants, and it calls on the Commission to report annually to the Parliament on the improvements in use of the funds and on the likelihood that the accumulated funds for the decommissioning of these specific units in the three NPPs will be absorbed over the next three years.

The ECA audit which is still continuing should clarify certain issues such as whether the funds were used for the purposes for which they were intended, whether there are activities where OLAF is involved, and whether proper coordination among the three existing programmes occurred. As regards future activities to be financed from EU allocated amounts within the 2007-2013 period, Members feel further issues need clarifying, including whether there is still a need for further amounts to be allocated for energy projects or whether it is necessary to focus on the decommissioning projects.

They stress furthermore that enhanced coordination between the three programmes is needed in order to ensure better planning of activities and sharing of experience gained amongst them, the EU as a whole can also benefit from this experience and the committee invites all parties involved to develop best decommissioning practices and to ensure the best use of the experience and data gained amongst the other Member States with nuclear power plants.

It goes on to note with concern the lack of an EU team of coordinators and experts of all three projects , and calls on the Commission to set up a Coordination Team, which should be in charge of: (i)supervising the elaboration of a final plan with a clear timetable, (ii) supervising the use of money allocated so far; (iii) establishing whether there is further need for an EU role and if so, determining the exact level of EU involvement; (iv) deciding upon responsibilities, including the role of the EBRD, and overseeing the finalisation of the decommissioning process.

The report also calls on the Commission to explore possible ways of harmonising approaches to the funding of decommissioning in the EU in order to ensure timely accumulation of the necessary financial resources without compromising the safety and security of the decommissioning process.

Ignalina NPP : the report notes with concern that key waste infrastructure management projects (spent fuel storage and waste repository project) have experienced serious delays that incurred additional costs with respect to original estimates. It calls on the Commission to report on the results of the reassessment of the project timeline. Furthermore, a large part of the funds was allocated to energy projects, considerable financing is still required for decommissioning and t national funds are not sufficient to cover this. The committee calls for appropriate measures to be taken in this respect, particularly by the Member State.

Bohunice NPP : some decommissioning projects, such as the reconstruction of the area’s physical protection system, the historical waste treatment project and construction of the interim storage of RAW at the Bohunice site, have experienced significant delays in their implementation, and the committee urges the Commission and the Slovakian side to take steps to prevent the delays and to avoid jeopardising the scheduled progress of decommissioning work.

Kozloduy NPP : Members note with concern a rather high share of energy projects in the distribution of allocated public funds, and they call on the Commission to monitor the implementation of the remaining energy projects. They also call for an increase in the proportion of ‘Decommissioning and Waste’ projects in the remaining period of the Kozloduy programme.

2011/03/01
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2011/02/04
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2010/12/13
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2010/07/08
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2010/06/29
   EP - BALČYTIS Zigmantas (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in ITRE
2010/06/01
   EP - MARINESCU Marian-Jean (PPE) appointed as rapporteur in CONT

Documents

AmendmentsDossier
92 2010/2104(INI)
2011/02/03 ITRE 23 amendments...
source: PE-458.492
2011/02/04 CONT 69 amendments...
source: PE-458.505

History

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

events/2/date
Old
2011-03-14T00:00:00
New
2011-03-13T00:00:00
events/3/docs
  • url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CRE-7-2011-04-04-TOC_EN.html title: Debate in Parliament
docs/0/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE454.642
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CONT-PR-454642_EN.html
docs/1/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE458.505
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CONT-AM-458505_EN.html
docs/2/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE456.644&secondRef=02
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ITRE-AD-456644_EN.html
docs/3/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-7-2011-0054_EN.html
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-7-2011-0054_EN.html
events/0/type
Old
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
New
Committee referral announced in Parliament
events/1/type
Old
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
New
Vote in committee
events/2
date
2011-03-14T00:00:00
type
Committee report tabled for plenary
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-7-2011-0054_EN.html title: A7-0054/2011
events/2
date
2011-03-14T00:00:00
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-7-2011-0054_EN.html title: A7-0054/2011
events/3/docs
  • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20110404&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
events/5
date
2011-04-05T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2011-0123_EN.html title: T7-0123/2011
summary
events/5
date
2011-04-05T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2011-0123_EN.html title: T7-0123/2011
summary
procedure/Modified legal basis
Rules of Procedure EP 150
procedure/Other legal basis
Rules of Procedure EP 159
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 54
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 052
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Budgetary Control
committee
CONT
rapporteur
name: MARINESCU Marian-Jean date: 2010-06-01T00:00:00 group: European People's Party (Christian Democrats) abbr: PPE
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Budgetary Control
committee
CONT
date
2010-06-01T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: MARINESCU Marian-Jean group: European People's Party (Christian Democrats) abbr: PPE
committees/1
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Industry, Research and Energy
committee
ITRE
rapporteur
name: BALČYTIS Zigmantas date: 2010-06-29T00:00:00 group: Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats abbr: S&D
committees/1
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Industry, Research and Energy
committee
ITRE
date
2010-06-29T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: BALČYTIS Zigmantas group: Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats abbr: S&D
docs/3/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2011-54&language=EN
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-7-2011-0054_EN.html
events/2/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2011-54&language=EN
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-7-2011-0054_EN.html
events/5/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2011-123
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2011-0123_EN.html
activities
  • date: 2010-07-08T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2010-06-01T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: PPE name: MARINESCU Marian-Jean body: EP responsible: False committee: ITRE date: 2010-06-29T00:00:00 committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy rapporteur: group: S&D name: BALČYTIS Zigmantas
  • date: 2011-03-03T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2010-06-01T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: PPE name: MARINESCU Marian-Jean body: EP responsible: False committee: ITRE date: 2010-06-29T00:00:00 committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy rapporteur: group: S&D name: BALČYTIS Zigmantas type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2011-03-14T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2011-54&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A7-0054/2011 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2011-04-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20110404&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament body: EP type: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2011-04-05T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=19780&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2011-123 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0123/2011 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
commission
  • body: EC dg: Energy commissioner: OETTINGER Günther
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Budgetary Control
committee
CONT
date
2010-06-01T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: MARINESCU Marian-Jean group: European People's Party (Christian Democrats) abbr: PPE
committees/0
body
EP
responsible
True
committee
CONT
date
2010-06-01T00:00:00
committee_full
Budgetary Control
rapporteur
group: PPE name: MARINESCU Marian-Jean
committees/1
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Industry, Research and Energy
committee
ITRE
date
2010-06-29T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: BALČYTIS Zigmantas group: Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats abbr: S&D
committees/1
body
EP
responsible
False
committee
ITRE
date
2010-06-29T00:00:00
committee_full
Industry, Research and Energy
rapporteur
group: S&D name: BALČYTIS Zigmantas
docs
  • date: 2010-12-13T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE454.642 title: PE454.642 type: Committee draft report body: EP
  • date: 2011-02-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE458.505 title: PE458.505 type: Amendments tabled in committee body: EP
  • date: 2011-03-01T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE456.644&secondRef=02 title: PE456.644 committee: ITRE type: Committee opinion body: EP
  • date: 2011-03-14T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2011-54&language=EN title: A7-0054/2011 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP
events
  • date: 2010-07-08T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2011-03-03T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP summary: The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Marian-Jean MARINESCU (EPP, RO) on the efficiency and effectiveness of EU funding in the area of decommissioning nuclear power plants in the new Member States. The report refers to the old nuclear power plants (NPPS) operated in Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria. The committee notes that Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria have fulfilled their accession treaty commitments to close the respective units in the three NPPs in a timely manner. However, all three Member States tried to re-negotiate their political commitments regarding closing the reactors and this led to delays in the process. The Treaties of Accession, as well as subsequent Council Regulations for the implementation of these Treaties, provided for financial assistance to the respective Member States, but it was not clearly decided whether the assistance should cover the full cost of decommissioning or compensate for all economic consequences. Members note that due to the limited EU experience and data in the field of decommissioning, the financial assistance was decided without the possibility of defining a financial ceiling, and there were still no clear conditions for specification on ceilings even after the plans for decommissioning had been drawn up, which meant that further financial assistance had to be decided on a stage-by-stage and case-by-case basis. Total financial assistance from the EU to the three Member States until the end of 2013 comes to EUR 2 847.78 million. Whilst differences among the NPPs exist, especially as regards fuel storage, in principle the programmes share the same technology. However, that there are considerable differences in the allocated amounts: Ignalina (2 units) EUR 1 367 million; Bohunice (2 units ): EUR 613 million; and Kozloduy (4 units) EUR 867.78 million. The committee notes that in all three cases the costs for decommissioning of the power plants have exceeded the planned EU assistance , and are also likely to exceed the initial estimates. A high share of the funds was used for energy projects and not for the main aim of the financial assistance, namely NPP decommissioning, and the decommissioning itself is still in its initial stage. Members stress the importance of the issue of safety, noting with concern that the detailed decommissioning plans of the three decommissioning programmes in question have not yet been finalised. They urge the relevant national bodies to finalise the plans. The Commission is asked to provide a detailed long-term financial planning of the decommissioning projects and describe the scope of the EU financing required to accomplish these plans. It is also asked to study ways of altering the EU’s methods of financing decommissioning operations in view of the strategies employed in the Member States, and simplifying the rules on management of the funds in such a way that they do not affect the safety and security of the decommissioning operations. Members go on to take note of the completed audits and evaluations. They also note the differing situations among the Member States regarding the amounts disbursed in 2009, mostly due to the different timing of the closure. They consider that, taking into account the large amounts of money involved, the novelty regarding the utilisation of funds, the unknown factors which emerged throughout the process, and the numerous subsequent alterations, adaptations and allocation of additional amounts, the number and scope of the audits performed appear to be insufficient. The committee regrets the lack of annual reports from the Commission to the European Parliament on the use of financial resources earmarked for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants, and it calls on the Commission to report annually to the Parliament on the improvements in use of the funds and on the likelihood that the accumulated funds for the decommissioning of these specific units in the three NPPs will be absorbed over the next three years. The ECA audit which is still continuing should clarify certain issues such as whether the funds were used for the purposes for which they were intended, whether there are activities where OLAF is involved, and whether proper coordination among the three existing programmes occurred. As regards future activities to be financed from EU allocated amounts within the 2007-2013 period, Members feel further issues need clarifying, including whether there is still a need for further amounts to be allocated for energy projects or whether it is necessary to focus on the decommissioning projects. They stress furthermore that enhanced coordination between the three programmes is needed in order to ensure better planning of activities and sharing of experience gained amongst them, the EU as a whole can also benefit from this experience and the committee invites all parties involved to develop best decommissioning practices and to ensure the best use of the experience and data gained amongst the other Member States with nuclear power plants. It goes on to note with concern the lack of an EU team of coordinators and experts of all three projects , and calls on the Commission to set up a Coordination Team, which should be in charge of: (i)supervising the elaboration of a final plan with a clear timetable, (ii) supervising the use of money allocated so far; (iii) establishing whether there is further need for an EU role and if so, determining the exact level of EU involvement; (iv) deciding upon responsibilities, including the role of the EBRD, and overseeing the finalisation of the decommissioning process. The report also calls on the Commission to explore possible ways of harmonising approaches to the funding of decommissioning in the EU in order to ensure timely accumulation of the necessary financial resources without compromising the safety and security of the decommissioning process. Ignalina NPP : the report notes with concern that key waste infrastructure management projects (spent fuel storage and waste repository project) have experienced serious delays that incurred additional costs with respect to original estimates. It calls on the Commission to report on the results of the reassessment of the project timeline. Furthermore, a large part of the funds was allocated to energy projects, considerable financing is still required for decommissioning and t national funds are not sufficient to cover this. The committee calls for appropriate measures to be taken in this respect, particularly by the Member State. Bohunice NPP : some decommissioning projects, such as the reconstruction of the area’s physical protection system, the historical waste treatment project and construction of the interim storage of RAW at the Bohunice site, have experienced significant delays in their implementation, and the committee urges the Commission and the Slovakian side to take steps to prevent the delays and to avoid jeopardising the scheduled progress of decommissioning work. Kozloduy NPP : Members note with concern a rather high share of energy projects in the distribution of allocated public funds, and they call on the Commission to monitor the implementation of the remaining energy projects. They also call for an increase in the proportion of ‘Decommissioning and Waste’ projects in the remaining period of the Kozloduy programme.
  • date: 2011-03-14T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2011-54&language=EN title: A7-0054/2011
  • date: 2011-04-04T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20110404&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2011-04-05T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=19780&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2011-04-05T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2011-123 title: T7-0123/2011 summary: The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the efficiency and effectiveness of EU funding in the area of decommissioning nuclear power plants in the new Member States. The resolution recalls that the three EU candidate countries, Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria, operated old nuclear power plants (NPPs) which were agreed to be closed, and the accession negotiations led to early fixed closure dates for the units in the three NPPs concerned. Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria have fulfilled their accession treaty commitments to close the respective units in the three NPPs in a timely manner: (a) Ignalina NPP Unit 1 was shut down on 31 December 2004 and Unit 2 on 31 December 2009; (b) Bohunice V1 NPP Unit 1 was shut down on 31 December 2006 and Unit 2 on 31 December 2008; (c) Kozloduy NPP Units 1 and 2 were shut down on 31 December 2002 and Units 3 and 4 on 31 December 2006. Financial assistance : the EU recognised that the early shut-down and subsequent decommissioning of these units in the three NPPs represented a significant financial and economical burden which could not be fully covered by the Member States concerned, and therefore the Treaties of Accession, as well as subsequent Council Regulations for the implementation of these Treaties, provided for financial assistance to the respective Member States. Community assistance shall support these three Member States in coping with the financial and economical burden caused by early fixed closure dates, and to cover the cost of many important decommissioning activities, invest in energy projects with the aim of reducing energy dependency and help to mitigate the social impact of the decommissioning of the power plants. Total financial assistance from the EU to the three Member States until the end of 2013 comes to EUR 2 847.78 million . Whilst differences among the NPPs exist, especially as regards fuel storage, in principle the programmes share the same technology. However, that there are considerable differences in the allocated amounts: Ignalina (2 units) EUR 1 367 million; Bohunice (2 units): EUR 613 million; and Kozloduy (4 units) EUR 867.78 million. The resolution notes that in all three cases the costs for decommissioning of the power plants have exceeded the planned EU assistance , and are also likely to exceed the initial estimates. A high share of the funds was used for energy projects and not for the main aim of the financial assistance, namely NPP decommissioning, and the decommissioning itself is still in its initial stage. Finalise plans : stressing the importance of the issue of safety, Parliament notes with concern that the detailed decommissioning plans of the three decommissioning programmes in question have not yet been finalised. It urges the relevant national bodies to finalise the plans. The Commission is asked to provide a detailed long-term financial planning of the decommissioning projects and describe the scope of the EU financing required to accomplish these plans. It is also asked to study ways of altering the EU’s methods of financing decommissioning operations in view of the strategies employed in the Member States, and simplifying the rules on management of the funds in such a way that they do not affect the safety and security of the decommissioning operations. Ensure follow-up and clarify future financing : noting the completed audits and evaluations, Members consider that, taking into account the large amounts of money involved, the novelty regarding the utilisation of funds, the unknown factors which emerged throughout the process, and the numerous subsequent alterations, adaptations and allocation of additional amounts, the number and scope of the audits performed appear to be insufficient. Parliament regrets the lack of annual reports from the Commission to the European Parliament on the use of financial resources earmarked for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants, and it calls on the Commission to report annually to the Parliament on the improvements in use of the funds and on the likelihood that the accumulated funds for the decommissioning of these specific units in the three NPPs will be absorbed over the next three years. The ECA audit which is still continuing should clarify certain issues such as whether the funds were used for the purposes for which they were intended, whether there are activities where OLAF is involved, and whether proper coordination among the three existing programmes occurred. As regards future activities to be financed from EU allocated amounts within the 2007-2013 period, Members feel further issues need clarifying, including whether there is still a need for further amounts to be allocated for energy projects or whether it is necessary to focus on the decommissioning projects. Enhance the coordination of programmes : the resolution stresses that enhanced coordination between the three programmes is needed. It calls on the Commission to set up a Coordination Team, which should be in charge of supervising the elaboration of a final plan with a clear timetable and supervising the use of money allocated so far. The Commission is also called upon to explore possible ways of harmonising approaches to the funding of decommissioning in the EU in order to ensure timely accumulation of the necessary financial resources without compromising the safety and security of the decommissioning process. Ignalina NPP : the resolution notes with concern that key waste infrastructure management projects (spent fuel storage and waste repository project) have experienced serious delays that incurred additional costs with respect to original estimates. It calls on the Commission to report on the results of the reassessment of the project timeline. Furthermore, a large part of the funds was allocated to energy projects, considerable financing is still required for decommissioning and national funds are not sufficient to cover this. Parliament calls for appropriate measures to be taken in this respect, particularly by the Member State. Bohunice NPP : some decommissioning projects, such as the reconstruction of the area’s physical protection system, the historical waste treatment project and construction of the interim storage of RAW at the Bohunice site, have experienced significant delays in their implementation, and Parliament urges the Commission and the Slovakian side to take steps to prevent the delays and to avoid jeopardising the scheduled progress of decommissioning work. Kozloduy NPP : Members note with concern a rather high share of energy projects in the distribution of allocated public funds, and they call on the Commission to monitor the implementation of the remaining energy projects. They also call for an increase in the proportion of ‘Decommissioning and Waste’ projects in the remaining period of the Kozloduy programme.
  • date: 2011-04-05T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/energy/index_en.htm title: Energy commissioner: OETTINGER Günther
procedure/Modified legal basis
Old
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 150
New
Rules of Procedure EP 150
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
Old
CONT/7/03329
New
  • CONT/7/03329
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 052
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 052
procedure/subject
Old
  • 3.60.04 Nuclear energy, industry and safety
  • 8.70.03 Budgetary control and discharge, implementation of the budget
New
3.60.04
Nuclear energy, industry and safety
8.70.03
Budgetary control and discharge, implementation of the budget
activities
  • date: 2010-07-08T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2010-06-01T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: PPE name: MARINESCU Marian-Jean body: EP responsible: False committee: ITRE date: 2010-06-29T00:00:00 committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy rapporteur: group: S&D name: BALČYTIS Zigmantas
  • date: 2011-03-03T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2010-06-01T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: PPE name: MARINESCU Marian-Jean body: EP responsible: False committee: ITRE date: 2010-06-29T00:00:00 committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy rapporteur: group: S&D name: BALČYTIS Zigmantas type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2011-03-14T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2011-54&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A7-0054/2011 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2011-04-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20110404&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament body: EP type: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2011-04-05T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=19780&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2011-123 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0123/2011 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
committees
  • body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2010-06-01T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: PPE name: MARINESCU Marian-Jean
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: ITRE date: 2010-06-29T00:00:00 committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy rapporteur: group: S&D name: BALČYTIS Zigmantas
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/energy/index_en.htm title: Energy commissioner: OETTINGER Günther
procedure
dossier_of_the_committee
CONT/7/03329
reference
2010/2104(INI)
title
Efficiency and effectiveness of EU funding in the area of decommissioning nuclear power plants in the new Member States
legal_basis
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 052
stage_reached
Procedure completed
subtype
Initiative
Modified legal basis
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 150
type
INI - Own-initiative procedure
subject