Seanad debates
Thursday, 27 November 2003
Address by Ms Nuala Ahern, MEP.
It is important to understand that while the new constitution seeks to clarify and make consistent previous legislation, and includes all of the other treaties, it has left out the EURATOM Treaty, one of the founding treaties of the EU. It is so old and unworkable that there was no way to include it in the new constitution. The constitution and the EURATOM Treaty will run parallel, leaving the promotion of nuclear power as a core value, a fatal blow to the new agreement. We must review and abolish the treaty as it stands and ensure that measures to protect citizens from radiation are introduced to the constitution while not allowing nuclear power to be promoted in the way it has been in the past. The EURATOM Treaty allows Britain to give millions to British Energy and BNFL under state aid programmes that would not be allowed for any other industry. It is complete nonsense under the rules for state aid and competitiveness. This is my hobby horse but I feel very strongly about it and there is an opportunity for Ireland to run with this. Austria has given us an opening and we should take the issue up during the Presidency.
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