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There will still be two treaties of Rome


(Brussels) As the European Union's new Constitution is signed in Rome, Friends of the Earth Europe issues a warning to EU leaders that their continued failure to reform the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (commonly referred to as 'Euratom') is putting overall ratification of the new agreement in jeopardy.

The Euratom treaty was signed in Rome in 1957 on the same day the EEC treaty. Since then, successive treaties - including those agreed in Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice - have been added to these two founding agreements.

The new constitutional treaty combines all these earlier treaties except Euratom, which will stay in force alongside it. EU primary law will effectively be based on two treaties of Rome and so will keep an explicit pro-nuclear bias in place.

Environmental groups cannot support this, as Euratom would continue to promote nuclear power through a combination of special regulations, research projects and frequent heavy subsidies.

Friends of the Earth Europe is leading the campaign for a new inter-governmental conference specifically to scrap Euratom. Five member states - Austria, Germany, Hungary, Ireland and Sweden - and the European Parliament are also calling for a review. (1)

Friends of the Earth Europe campaigner Mark Johnston said:

"We cannot support the EU constitution if the outdated relic of Euratom continues alongside it. If European leaders fail to reform Euratom, then they should not be surprised if more citizens vote 'no' in the coming referenda. The constitution of the Union cannot continue to be biased towards a dangerous and discredited technology such as nuclear."

 

Contact:
Mark Johnston (Brussels & UK) +44 79 7331 9249 mobile +32 2 542 0180 office
Patricia Lorenz (Austria) +43 699 1189 4580 mobile

Notes:
1. In Declaration 44, attached to the new constitution, Germany, Ireland, Hungary, Austria and Sweden stated, "the core provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community have not been substantially amended since its entry into force and need to be brought up to date [and so they] support the idea of a Conference of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, which should be convened as soon as possible". The European Parliament, voting on 24 September 2003, called on member states "to convene a Treaty revision conference in order to repeal the obsolete and outdated provisions of the Treaty, notably concerning the promotion of nuclear energy and the lack of democratic decision making procedures."

 

Friends of the Earth Europe campaigns for sustainable and fair societies and for the protection of the environment,
unites more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups
and is part of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth International.