The European Union and nuclear safety

In recent years the EU Commission has developed a range of activities in the area of nuclear safety. Currently, the Commission has submitted a draft Directive revising the Nuclear Safety Directive 2009/71 to the Council. It seems that this draft text will undergo substantial changes in the course of Council deliberations and it is not clear yet whether any revision of the Directive will be adopted at all. The article shortly explains the background and the history of EU legislative activities in nuclear safety - a history which has been somewhat less than straightforward and has not yet reached its final chapter. The Commission's endeavours to introduce meaningful legislation have always met resistance from Member States determined to protect their sovereignty in this area. A decisive handicap for the Commission in this struggle certainly is the fact that it does not have a sufficient degree of in-house expertise in nuclear safety. Unless this is changed by upgrading and empowering the Commission to become a 'super-regulatory authority' - which seems to be very unlikely -, the Commission will have to resign itself to contribute to the further development of nuclear safety by closely cooperating with the Member States and their regulators. In any case, this can be a very effective and meaningful role. (orig.)