B4-0062, 0064, 0065, 0107 and 0114/94

Resolution on illegal trafficking in nuclear materials

The European Parliament,

-having regard to Articles 2, 3b, 7a, 8a and 100a of the EC Treaty and K.1, K.3(1), K.3(2) and K.6 of Title VI of the Treaty on European Union,

-having regard to the recommendations on international organized crime adopted by the Justice and Home Affairs Council at its meeting of 29 and 30 November 1993 and the conclusions of the Presidency at the European Council in Corfu,

-having regard to the Berlin Declaration of 8 September 1994 on increased cooperation in combating drugs-related crime and organized crime in Europe,

A.recalling that, by analogy with international trafficking in drugs, it is essential to take into account all the aspects of this 'market' by taking action on both the 'supply' and 'demand' side of fissile materials and investigating both the channels for illicitly obtaining these materials and the laundering of money and sales networks,

B.alarmed by the risks to mankind involved in the illegal traffic in plutonium and enriched uranium and pointing out that the most immediate dangers do not lie in the explosion of an atom bomb, but begin with the very manufacture of this highly toxic substance, its handling, transport or smuggling, and processing,

C.noting that the collapse of a system characterized by the non-separation of the civil and military aspects of nuclear power has brought about a highly dangerous situation, as regards both the management of nuclear installations and the monitoring of radioactive substances,

D.concerned at the growing instances of the theft of and illicit trade in radioactive and nuclear material and the threat these pose to the safety of citizens,

1.Convinced that the serious nature of this development demands, as a matter of urgency, a solution to the problem at Union level, draws the Commission's attention, first of all, to the fact that:

-under Article 3b, second paragraph, of the EC Treaty, the transnational nature of the problem is such that 'the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved by the Community';

-in this case the action satisfies the criteria of necessity, effectiveness and proportionality for the purposes of applying Article 7a of the EC Treaty;

2.Calls on the Commission to use the right of proposal granted to it under Article K.3(2) of the Treaty on European Union to submit to Parliament and the Council a comprehensive strategy to combat international fraud relating to fissile products, while ensuring that a major effort is made to exercise democratic control of fissionable materials all over the world and ensuring that, within the European Union in particular, the results of this control are regularly communicated to the European Parliament;

3.Calls on the Council to ensure that the exchange of information in this area takes place within Europol, in accordance with Article K.1(9) of the EU Treaty, and requests that provision be made for political control of that body by the European Parliament, and that the Court of Justice be responsible for the legal aspects;

4.Requests the Council to treat the illegal trade in nuclear material as a 'serious form of international crime' in accordance with Article K.1(9) of the EU Treaty;

5.Requests that the structures already in place in the area of EURATOM competences be strengthened by introducing supervision by the European Parliament and requests that preventive actions against illegal trafficking in nuclear materials be incorporated in the Union's external relations with the countries most likely to be concerned;

6.Demands a prompt initiative by the European Union aimed at getting the April 1995 verification conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to accept the obligation to place all existing quantities of separated plutonium, civil and military, in international storage and under international management and supervision and to adopt clauses that oblige all signatory states - including the five nuclear powers - to allow the IAEA to check and control regularly all their civilian and military nuclear facilities (including the sites at Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk 26 and Tomsk 7) and to commit themselves to a comprehensive nuclear test ban;

7.Proposes that Member States of the CIS set up a nuclear safety organization (CISATOM) using EURATOM's experience and receiving financial and technical aid from the Community;

8.Proposes that the European Union's agreements with the countries of central and eastern Europe be used to monitor fissile materials in close cooperation with EURATOM, anticipating, so to speak, their membership;

9.Is surprised that, at a time when the seriousness of the traffic in fissile materials is most apparent, budget item B4-2001 ('Training and exchange of experts in nuclear safety in the countries of central and eastern Europe and the States of the CIS'), which was created on Parliament's initiative following its resolution of 9 April 1992 on nuclear security in the countries of central and eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States and which allocates ECU 1 million to the training and exchange of experts in nuclear safety in the countries of central and eastern Europe and the CIS, is given only a p.m. in the 1995 preliminary draft budget and calls on the budgetary authorities to reverse the cancellation of that item and re-establish it;

10.Calls likewise on the European Union to contribute financially, notably through the PHARE and TACIS programmes, towards the strengthening of independent and technically qualified regulatory authorities in the countries of central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union;

11.Requests that the greatest possible scientific efforts be made immediately to destroy nuclear weapons to ensure that the huge amounts of plutonium accumulated are not transformed into a nuclear arsenal;

12.Calls on the European Union to contribute towards an immediate shut-down programme for nuclear installations recognized as being particularly dangerous in CIS countries and to contribute to a programme for managing radioactive waste storage sites and obsolete nuclear facilities;

13.Calls, like the Commission, for the European Union to contribute towards establishing and operating a proper monitoring and accounting system for nuclear materials, both at a national level and at each installation, and towards the training of inspectors and managers in the countries of central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union;

14.Proposes to set up a temporary committee, involving all the relevant committees, to draw up a coordinated position on the Commission communication;

15.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the IAEA and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the applicant countries.