Senate opposes increased EU nuclear supervision

The Czech upper house, the Senate, has opposed giving greater nuclear safety supervision powers to the European Commission. Senators took the same stand Wednesday as the Czech government and said that calls for reinforced rules following the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan were premature. One change called for is that independent supervisors replace the safety checks made by national authorities. An evaluation of member states compliance with existing safety rules is not due until July this year. Speaking to the Senate, outgoing prime minister Jiří Rusnok said he doubted whether the Czech Republic could win sufficient among other EU states to oppose the Commission proposal.

Author: Chris Johnstone