To all members and alternate members of the European Convention;

Brussels, Wednesday, 2 April 2003

Dear Madam/Sir,

PRAESIDUM’S PROPOSED APPROACH TO THE EURATOM TREATY

In addition to our main submission on this topic (on 3 March), we write now to urge you to reject the recent Praesidium proposal (CONV 621, 18 March) to incorporate the Euratom Treaty, effectively unchanged, into a new European constitutional settlement. We urge you instead to recommend the abolition of Euratom. Such a radical overhaul would remove the Treaty’s promotional aspects whilst retaining necessary provisions on safety and security.

Euratom is clearly biased, out of date and undemocratic. It is contrary to the aims for reforming the internal market for electricity, and contrary to the provisions of the Amsterdam Treaty requiring the integration of a high level of environmental protection into all other EU policy areas. Should the Praesidium’s proposal prevail, then there is a significant risk of European citizens being asked to back a new Constitution that inter alia will:

- Require the promotion of nuclear power
- Maintain a separate nuclear research and development budget;
- Maintain the absence of co-decision with the European Parliament;
- Continue to offer subsidised finance exclusively to nuclear projects.

It is clear that this view does not reflect the view of a substantial majority of EU citizens, as a recent Eurobarometer energy poll has shown. We believe therefore that a majority of the Convention will consider that to proceed with the present proposal is a position that is indefensible and so unsustainable.

We urge you to publicly state to the Praesidum that you cannot support their approach. A compromise on how to deal with Euratom is already illustrated in the Contribution (CONV 563) by Nagy, Wager, MacCormick and Lichtenberger, and we respectfully ask that you consider adding your support to it.

Thank you for your time in considering this important matter. If you would like to discuss it further with us, please contact my colleague Mark Johnston via +4479 7331 9249 (mob) or email abolish.euratom@foeeeurope.org.

Sincerely,
Martin Rocholl,
Director, Friends of the Earth Europe

Also on behalf of:

Karla Schoeters, Director, Climate Action Network Europe;
John Hontelez, Secretary General, European Environmental Bureau;
Clairie Papazoglou, Acting Head European Community Office, BirdLife International;
Manfred Pils, Secretary General, Friends of Nature International;
Jorgo Riss, Greenpeace International European Unit;
Tony Long, Director, WWF European Policy Office.

The campaign to abolish Euratom in its current form is also supported by more than 100 other non-governmental organizations across Europe who, on the 3 March 2003, together submitted a ‘civil society declaration’ to the European Convention. The full list of these groups is available on the FOE Europe website.