Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2012)561 - Community system for registration of carriers of radioactive materials - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2012)561 - Community system for registration of carriers of radioactive materials. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2012)561  |
| date | 28-09-2012 |
At European level, carriers of radioactive materials are covered by transport legislation under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and legislation on radiation-specific aspects including the health protection of workers and the general public under the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).
TFEU legislation has been simplified by Directive 2008/68/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 2008 on the inland transport of dangerous goods by combining all inland transport modes.
Council Directive 96/29/Euratom of 13 May 1996 lays down basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation. According to Article 30 of the Treaty, these basic standards mean:
· maximum permissible doses compatible with adequate safety;
· maximum permissible levels of exposure and contamination;
· the fundamental principles governing the health surveillance of workers.
In accordance with Article 33, Member States must lay down appropriate provisions to ensure compliance with the basic standards.
For the sake of protecting the health of workers and the general public and to better focus their work, Member States’ authorities need to know which persons, organisations or undertakings to check on. To that end, Articles 3 and 4 of the Directive require Member States to submit certain practices involving a hazard from ionising radiation to a system of reporting (notification) and prior authorisation or to prohibit certain practices.
Directive 96/29/Euratom applies to all practices which involve a risk from ionising radiation emanating from an artificial source or from a natural radiation source, including transport.
Given the frequent cross-border nature of transport operations, a carrier may have to comply with reporting and authorisation procedures in several Member States. In addition, Member States have implemented these procedures in different ways, thereby adding to the complexity of transport operations.
Replacing these national reporting and authorisation procedures with a single registration system for conducting transport will therefore contribute to simplifying the procedure, reduce the administrative burden and do away with barriers to entry, while the high radiation protection levels reached will be maintained.
This Regulation replaces the reporting and authorisation systems in the Member States for the purpose of implementing Council Directive 96/29/Euratom with a single registration. The Regulation establishes a European System for Carrier Registration. Carriers should apply through a central web interface. These applications will be screened by the respective national competent authority, which will issue the registration if the applicant fulfils the basic safety standards. At the same time, the system affords the competent authorities a better overview of the carriers that are active in their country.
The Regulation adopts a graded approach by exempting carriers who transport exclusively ‘excepted packages’ from the need to register. On the other hand, the Regulation leaves it up to the Member States to add additional registration requirements for carriers of fissile and highly radioactive materials.
Other Community law and international rules regarding physical protection, safeguards, and third-party liability continue to apply. This is true, in particular, for Directive 2008/68/EC.
2. LEGAL BASIS
The provisions of this Regulation relate to the basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public. Consequently, the legal basis is Chapter 3 of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and, in particular, Articles 31 and 32 thereof.
3. SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
As recognised by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its case-law, the provisions of Chapter 3 of the Euratom Treaty on health and safety form a coherent whole conferring upon the Commission powers of some considerable scope in order to protect the population and the environment against risks of nuclear contamination.
Based on the Court’s ruling in Case C-29/99, the existing basic safety standards, which are mainly at protecting the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiations can be ‘supplemented’. The proposed Regulation would supplement the basic safety standards provided for in Article 30 of the Euratom Treaty, which have been revised several times since the Treaty entered into force and more recently on 13 May 1996 (Directive 96/29 Euratom).
In its ruling of 10 December 2002 in Case C-29/99, the Court favours a wide interpretation of the scope of Directive 96/29/Euratom, stating that ‘it is not appropriate, in order to define the Community’s competencies, to draw an artificial distinction between the protection of the health of the general public and the safety of sources of ionising radiation’. The Court recognises that under Articles 30 to 32 of the Euratom Treaty the Community possesses wide ‘legislative competence to establish, for the purpose of health protection, a related authorisation system which must be applied by the Member States. Such a legislative act constitutes a measure supplementing the basic standards referred to in that article’. As the proposed Regulation falls under the scope of Directive 96/29/Euratom, the subsidiarity principle does not apply because of the exclusive nature of the Community’s legislative powers under Chapter 3 of the Euratom Treaty.
Developing the registration system, whose website will also include links to the competent authorities in Member States, will cost roughly €1 million in operational appropriations followed by annual running costs of €0.18 million. To oversee the development process existing human resources costing €0.7 million would be required followed by assistance costing €0.1 million annually.
For the purposes of the Advisory Committee established under this Regulation, no additional budgetary implications would be incurred if the Member States agreed to make use of the existing Standing Working Group on the safe transport of radioactive materials. The financing for covering meetings of the Committee (less than € 30.000 per year) will be provided through redeployment of existing resources. No additional costs above the allocation foreseen on the budget line will be incurred.
While the impact assessment report accompanying this proposal refers to an optional website with additional information on the competent authorities in the Member States, only a page with basic information is to become part of the registration system so that no additional costs will be incurred.