De Palacio wins power battle over EU nuclear policy

Date: 21/09/00

By Renée Cordes

THE European Commission is set to put energy chief Loyola de Palacio in charge of virtually every aspect of nuclear policy, stripping her environment counterpart of responsibility for all but a small part of the dossier.

The move is being seen as a strong signal that most members of the Union executive are in favour of the controversial power source, given De Palacio's reputation as a champion of the nuclear industry.

She will be tasked with overseeing most of the institution's work on nuclear issues, athough her environment and enlargement counterparts, Margot Wallström and Günter Verheugen, will still have a say on proposals which would have a direct impact on their dossiers.

Officials say the shake-up is designed to improve the co-ordination of EU policy and ensure that the Commission speaks with one voice on the issue. But critics fear De Palacio will ignore concerns about nuclear energy's impact on the environment.

Although the Spanish Commissioner insisted once again this week that she was neither pro- nor anti-nuclear, she is widely considered to be strongly in favour of nuclear power.

In a speech this summer, she argued that it was an "essential tool" for the fight against global warming, adding: "The obvious contradiction between the nuclear moratoria or even the pull-out decided by some member states, and their engagements at Kyoto, has to be resolved." However, Wallström remains steadfastly opposed to nuclear energy, insisting it is better to rely on other alternatives to fossil fuels to meet the commitment made at the Kyoto climate change conference to cut emissions of six greenhouse gases to 8% below 1990 levels by 2012. The EU faces an uphill struggle to fulfil its promises, but Wallström insists nuclear power is not the answer. "No country has so far solved the waste problem," she said last week.

Following the internal re-organisation, Wallström will continue to oversee initiatives designed to protect the public from radiation and other issues related to health and the environment. But the remainder of her nuclear responsibilities will go to De Palacio.

Experts say privately that the changes are aimed at averting public relations disasters such as that caused by the lengthy delays to the Commission's nuclear safety strategy. The long-awaited plan was due to be adopted by the full Commission before the summer break, but was postponed until earlier this month to defuse criticism of plans to fund two new Ukrainian power plants to replace the Chernobyl reactor. The proposal was also hampered by confusion over which Commissioners would be designated as the report's authors.

Environmental campaigners have criticised the decision to put De Palacio in charge of nuclear policy. "If all the nuclear stuff is under her remit, that does not look too good," said Rob Bradley of Climate Network Europe, adding that there was a "strong case" for moving the entire nuclear dossier to the environment department.

The European Commission is set to put the European Commissioner for Transport and Energy, Loyola de Palacio, in charge of virtually every aspect of nuclear policy, stripping her environment counterpart, Margot Wallström, of responsibility for all but a small part of the dossier.