20 Dec (NucNet): The €2.4bn budget proposed for the 2021-2025 Euratom research and training programme is proportionate to its objectives and should be maintained regardless of Brexit, the European Economic and Social Committee has said.
In an opinion adopted at its December plenary session, the committee said it backed the European Commission’s proposal on the Euratom research and training programme for 2021-2025. The programme is part of the 2021-2027 Horizon Europe framework programme for research and innovation and will run for five years, with a possible two-year extension.
The committee said the UK’s withdrawal from the EU should be handled with the utmost care. “We need to be very careful if the time comes for the UK not to be part of the Euratom programme any longer,” a statement said. “We have to pay attention in particular to research already in progress, shared infrastructure and the social impact on staff. Working conditions are a priority, both on British soil and elsewhere.”
Euratom – the European Atomic Energy Community – is the EU’s nuclear safety and research watchdog, but when the UK leaves the EU it will also be leaving Euratom.
The UK government has said the country remains on track to have all the international agreements that it requires to ensure uninterrupted cooperation and trade in the civil nuclear sector ready for Brexit at the end of March 2019.
The committee said the EC’s budget proposal represents continuity with previous programmes on nuclear fusion research and development, nuclear fission and safety, and the Joint Research Centre, but also includes new areas of activity such as radiation protection and the decommissioning of nuclear power plants.
It said there needs to be a higher level of coordination between member states and national and local authorities on reactors located on borders between EU countries,
“These plants need specific attention in case of cross-border accidents, and a mechanism should be set up that can provide rapid responses to unforeseeable circumstances,” the statement said. “Citizens and workers should also have access to effective information and training activities.”
