FROM THE ECSC TREATY TO THE CONSTITUTION >
Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)
Initially instituted to coordinate the
Member States' research programmes for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the Euratom
Treaty today helps to pool knowledge, infrastructure and funding of nuclear energy.
It ensures the security of atomic energy supply within the framework of a centralised
monitoring system. |
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Creation
Objectives
Scope
Structure
Tasks
Institutions
The future of the Euratom Treaty
References
CREATION
The establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (
ECSC
), which came into being in July 1952, was the first great achievement of the supranational
Europe. For the first time, the six Member States of this organisation surrendered
part of their national sovereignty, albeit in a limited field, to the Community.
The limitations of this first attempt at integration were quickly revealed with the
failure of the European Defence Community (EDC) in 1954.
While it might have been feared that the effort undertaken by the ECSC would
not bear fruit, the Messina Conference of June 1955 attempted to relaunch the European
process. The Conference was followed by a series of other meetings of ministers and
experts. A preparatory committee was set up at the beginning of 1956 with the task
of preparing a report on the creation of a European common market. This committee
met in Brussels and was chaired by P.H. Spaak, the Belgian Foreign Minister at the
time. In April 1956, this committee proposed a set of two projects that corresponded
to the two options chosen by the States:
- the creation of a generalised common market;
- the creation of an atomic energy community.
These famous "Treaties of Rome" were signed in Rome in March 1957.
The first treaty established a
European Economic Community
(EEC) and the second established a European Atomic Energy Community, better known
as Euratom. Following unproblematic ratification in the various countries, the two
treaties entered into force on 1 January 1958.
This summary sheet deals only with the Euratom Treaty.
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OBJECTIVES
To combat the general shortage of "conventional" energy in the 1950s, the six
founding States (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands)
looked to nuclear energy as a means of achieving energy independence. Since the costs
of investing in nuclear energy could not be met by individual States, the founding
States joined together to form Euratom.
The general objective of the Treaty is to contribute to the formation and development
of Europe's nuclear industries, so that all the Member States can benefit from the
development of atomic energy, and to ensure security of supply. At the same time,
the Treaty guarantees high safety standards for the public and prevents nuclear materials
intended principally for civilian use from being diverted to military use. It is
important to note that Euratom's powers are limited to peaceful civil uses of nuclear
energy.
Moreover, in the preamble, the signatories described themselves as:
" - recognizing that nuclear energy represents an essential resource for the development
and invigoration of industry and will permit the advancement of the cause of peace
[…],
- resolved to create the conditions necessary for the development of a powerful
nuclear industry which will provide extensive energy resources, lead to the modernization
of technical processes and contribute, through its many other applications, to the
prosperity of their peoples,
- anxious to create the conditions of safety necessary to eliminate hazards
to the life and health of the public,
- desiring to associate other countries with their work and to cooperate with
international organizations concerned with the peaceful development of atomic energy
[…]".
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SCOPE
The objective of the Euratom Treaty is to pool the nuclear industries of Member
States. In this context, it applies only to certain entities (Member States, physical
persons, and public or private undertakings or institutions) which carry out some
or all of their activities in an area covered by the Treaty, i.e. special fissile
materials, source materials and the ores from which source materials are extracted.
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STRUCTURE
The Euratom Treaty comprises 225 articles which are set out under six titles and
preceded by a preamble.
- The first title sets out the seven tasks which the Treaty entrusts to the Community.
- The second title sets out provisions to encourage progress in the field of nuclear
energy (promotion of research, dissemination of information, health and safety, investment,
joint undertakings, supplies, safeguards, property ownership, the nuclear common
market and external relations).
- The third title deals with the institutions of the Community.
- The fourth title deals with financial provisions.
- The fifth and sixth titles deal respectively with general provisions and provisions
relating to the initial period (setting up the institutions, initial application
provisions and transitional provisions).
Furthermore, the Treaty also includes five annexes dealing with the fields of
research concerning nuclear energy referred to in Article 4 of the Treaty, the industrial
activities referred to in Article 41 of the Treaty, the advantages which may be conferred
on joint undertakings under Article 48 of the Treaty, a list of goods and products
subject to the provisions of Chapter 9 on the nuclear common market, and the initial
research and training programme referred to in Article 215 of the Treaty.
Lastly, two protocols are also appended to the Treaty. These are the Protocol
on the application of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community
to the non-European parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Protocol on the
Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Atomic Energy Community.
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TASKS
According to the Treaty, the specific tasks of Euratom are:
- to promote research and ensure the dissemination of technical information
The Commission calls upon Member States, persons or undertakings to communicate
to it their programmes relating to nuclear research. The Commission publishes at
regular intervals a list of those sectors of nuclear research which it considers
to be insufficiently explored, and has established a Joint Nuclear Research Centre.
- to establish uniform safety standards to protect the health of workers and
of the general public and ensure that they are applied
Each Member State lays down the appropriate provisions, whether by legislation,
regulation or administrative action, to ensure compliance with the basic standards
which have been established by the Treaty, including the necessary measures with
regard to teaching, education and vocational training. Legislation has also been
adopted on medical applications, research, the maximum permissible levels of radioactive
contamination in food and the health protection measures to be taken in the event
of a radiological emergency. Each Member State is required to provide the Commission
with the general data relating to any plan for the disposal of radioactive waste.
At the same time, the assent of the Commission is required where these plans are
liable to affect the territories of other Member States.
- to facilitate investment and ensure the establishment of the basic installations
necessary for the development of nuclear energy in the EU
The Commission regularly publishes illustrative nuclear programmes (PINCs)
indicating, in particular, nuclear energy production targets and the investment required
for their attainment. Persons and undertakings engaged in the industrial activities
listed in Annex II to the Treaty are required to notify the Commission of any investment
projects.
- to ensure that all users in the EU receive a regular and equitable supply
of ores and nuclear fuels
The supply of ores, source materials and special fissile materials is ensured
by means of a common supply policy on the principle of equal access to sources of
supply. In this context, the Treaty:
-
- prohibits all practices designed to secure a privileged position for certain
users;
- establishes an Agency with a right of option on ores, source materials and special
fissile materials produced in the territories of Member States and an exclusive right
to conclude contracts relating to the supply of ores, source materials and special
fissile materials coming from inside the Community or from outside.
The Euratom Supply Agency has legal personality and financial autonomy and is
under the supervision of the Commission, which issues directives to it and possesses
a right of veto over its decisions.
Member States are required to submit annually a report to the Commission on the
development of prospecting and production, on probable reserves and on investment
in mining which has been made or is planned in their territories.
- to make certain that civil nuclear materials are not diverted to other (particularly
military) purposes
The Euratom Treaty introduces an extremely comprehensive and strict system of
safeguards to ensure that civil nuclear materials are not diverted from the civil
use declared by the Member States. The EU has exclusive powers in this domain, which
it exercises through of a team of 300 inspectors who enforce the Euratom safeguards
throughout the EU.
The Commission must ensure that, in the territories of the Member States:
-
- ores, source materials and special fissile materials are not diverted from the
intended uses as declared by the users;
- the provisions relating to supply are complied with, together with any particular
commitments to ensuring access to the best available technical means by way of a
common market in materials, equipment, etc.
The Commission may send inspectors into the territories of Member States. These
inspectors have access at all times to all places and data and to all persons who,
by reason of their occupation, deal with materials, equipment or installations subject
to the safeguards.
The Euratom safeguards are applied in conjunction with those of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
under tripartite agreements concluded between the Member States, the Community and
the IAEA.
In the event of infringement of these obligations, the Commission may impose sanctions
on the persons or undertakings responsible. These sanctions can range from a simple
warning to the total or partial withdrawal of source materials or special fissile
materials, and also include the withdrawal of special benefits (such as financial
or technical assistance) or the placing of the undertaking under the administration
of a person or a board.
- to exercise the right of ownership conferred upon it with respect to special
fissile materials
- to foster progress in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy by working
with other countries and international organisations
The IAEA is an independent organisation based in Vienna (Austria) which cooperates
with the United Nations (UN). Its objectives are, on the one hand, to foster peaceful
uses of nuclear energy and, on the other hand, to ensure that the aid which it provides
is not used for military purposes.
The Commission negotiates and concludes agreements governing nuclear cooperation
with third countries. However, conclusion of such agreements is subject to approval
by the Council. The Member States are required, for their part, to notify the Commission
of any draft agreements or contracts with a third State, an international organisation
or a national of a third State. Currently, there are Euratom agreements with many
countries, such as the USA, Australia and Canada.
- to establish joint undertakings
Such undertakings are set up for specific projects of fundamental importance
to the development of the nuclear industry in Europe. Examples include the Joint
European Torus (JET) in the field of nuclear fusion (this undertaking was dissolved
in 2000, but its activities continue under the aegis of the European Fusion Development
Agreement (EFDA)) and the future
ITER project
, which should even extend beyond Europe.
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INSTITUTIONS
The institutional structure of the Euratom Treaty is broadly similar to that of
the EEC Treaty and is built around the same "institutional triangle" (Council, Commission
and European Parliament). Thus, the fulfilment of the tasks entrusted to the Community
is ensured not only by the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council, but
also by the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors. Each institution acts within
the limits of the powers conferred on it by the Treaty. The Council and the Commission
are assisted by an Economic and Social Committee acting in an advisory capacity.
The Community institutions are responsible for implementing the Treaty and for
the two specific Euratom bodies: the Supply Agency and the Safeguards Office (which
carries out physical and accounting checks in all nuclear installations in the Community).
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THE FUTURE OF THE
EURATOM TREATY
Unlike the EC Treaty, no major changes have ever been made to the Euratom Treaty.
Despite the adoption of the
Constitutional Treaty
, the Euratom Treaty remains in force. The European Atomic Energy Community has not
merged with the Union and therefore retains a separate legal personality, though
sharing the same institutions. The Constitutional Treaty adopts the changes which
need to be made to the Euratom Treaty in the "Protocol amending the Treaty establishing
the European Atomic Energy Community", which is annexed to the Constitution. These
changes are limited to adaptations to take account of the new rules established by
the Constitution, particularly in the institutional and financial fields.
A declaration by five Member States - Germany, Ireland, Hungary, Austria and Sweden
- notes that the main provisions of the Euratom Treaty have not been amended since
its entry into force and need to be brought up to date. These five countries therefore
support the idea of convening, as soon as possible, an intergovernmental conference
to revise the Treaty.
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REFERENCES
Act |
Entry into force |
Deadline for transposition in the Member
States |
Official Journal |
Euratom Treaty |
25.03.1957 |
01.01.1958 |
_ |
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For more information, see the
DG TREN
website
Full text of the Euratom Treaty
Last updated: 07.12.2004
These fact sheets are not legally binding on the European Commission. They
do not claim to be exhaustive and do not represent an official interpretation of
the text of the Treaty.
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