Nuclear safety in Europe

For a long time, it was hotly disputed whether "basic standards" - as the Euratom Treaty puts it - for nuclear safety could also be created on the basis of the Euratom Treaty, and not just for radiation protection. Only the European Court of Justice provided clarity here (ECJ case C-29/99). However, the Member States retain sole responsibility for nuclear supervision.

In 2003, the European Commission presented for the first time a proposal for a directive laying down basic obligations and general principles relating to the safety of nuclear installations.

The European Commission's initial proposals failed due to opposition from some nuclear states. Austria, on the other hand, had always called for pan-European safety standards and supported the Commission's endeavours, contributing intensively and actively to the consultations. The issue has remained on the European agenda, not least thanks to Austria's initiative.

In 2007, the European Commission set up a high-level expert group on nuclear safety and waste management. (now European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group, ENSREG). This group played a key role in drawing up a new proposal for a Directive.

With the adoption of Council Directive No 2009/71/Euratom (EUR-Lex) of 25 June 2009 establishing a Community framework for the nuclear safety of nuclear installations the first steps towards the creation of a European Nuclear Safety system have been implemented.
It already lays down basic principles for the legal framework, for the supervisory authorities and for operators of nuclear installations, for maintaining knowledge and skills, for informing the public and for the obligation of regular self-assessments with international review, which must be reported to all Member States and the Commission.

This represents a unique innovation compared to the existing legal framework. Austria has been able to assert its most important demands. Improvements compared to previous legal instruments mainly concerned the legally binding nature, the broad scope of application, the anchoring of the "safety first" principle for authorities and operators and the transparency provisions.

In the light of the Fukushima disaster , the European Council of March 2011 - in addition to the mandate for the stress tests - also called on the Commission to review the existing legal framework for the safety of nuclear installations and to propose improvements.

On 28 December 2012, the Commission presented the draft of an amended Directive. This was the start of an extremely complex and highly controversial discussion and negotiation process. The amended Directive was finally unanimously adopted by the Council on 8 July 2014 as Directive No 2014/87/Euratom (EUR-Lex).

The amended Directive strengthens the national nuclear safety supervisory authorities, contains a legally binding, ambitious EU-wide safety target - valid for new installations and as a reference value for safety improvements for existing nuclear installations, improves transparency in the area of nuclear safety and requires "topic-related peer reviews" (mini-stress tests) at least every 6 years.

On the one hand, this represents another important step towards a European nuclear safety system and, on the other hand, the European Union now has a legally enshrined retrofitting obligation that is unique in the world, non-compliance with which can lead to infringement proceedings and ultimately to sanctions. However, as this requirement is still relatively new and the Directive refers to "reasonably practicable safety improvements", there is still little concrete experience but plenty of room for interpretation.