Vol. 514 No. 3
56 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she has expressed concerns to her British Government counterpart in relation to that Government's commitments under the OSPAR agreement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4100/00]
The OSPAR strategy with regard to radioactive substances, adopted by the OSPAR Ministers in 1998, commits the OSPAR contracting parties to the virtual elimination by the year 2020 of discharges of radioactive substances to the marine environment.
The OSPAR Commission, on which all OSPAR participating states are represented, will, at its meeting in June this year, consider a draft report as to how the objectives of the strategy and the timetable for its implementation will be met. There is some evidence from the current version of that draft report and the minutes of an OSPAR working group meeting in January of an attempt by France and the UK to dilute some of the strategy's objectives. Further negotiations on the draft report will be necessary in advance of the June meeting and at a heads of delegation meeting on 16-17 May next. It is important to recognise that the UK is preparing a national strategy for discharges of radioactive substances covering the period 2001 to 2020 to meet the objectives of the OSPAR strategy. It expects its national strategy to be published before the end of this year after a full public consultation process. Allied to this, the UK is also undertaking a full scale review of all radioactive discharges from Sellafield. The UK's domestic processes and their outcome will be a measure of their commitment to the OSPAR strategy.
I will keep a close eye on developments in the run up to the OSPAR Commission meeting in June. I will consider bilateral contact and correspondence with the UK Ministers and officials in the period between now and the June meeting if that appears necessary. I am determined to ensure that OSPAR participating states can demonstrate at that meeting that they are working positively towards achieving further substantial reductions of discharges as required under the OSPAR strategy so that the objectives of the strategy can be achieved fully between now and 2020.
