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Prague News
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09.06.2008 - Austrian-Czech commission on Temelin ends, problems remain
The commission's heads, Austrian Albrecht Konecny (SPOe) and Czech Jan Kasal (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL), said six European Championships first day wrap ...
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The two issues yet unsolved were the high-pressure piping and the tightness of the pressure vessel with the reactor.
It was generally expected that nuclear-free Austria would not nod to the termination of the Melk process dealing with problems related to Temelin, situated some 60 km from Austria's border.
The Czech Republic wanted to close the whole Melk process and switch to standard cooperation with Austria, based on the valid agreement about mutual exchange of information.
Konecny and Kasal said after the meeting, symbolically held in Melk where the two countries' leaders in 2000 signed the agreement, that the commission's possibilities on the political level were exhausted.
The Czechs rejected the Austrian proposal that controversial points be assessed by an international arbitration committee or experts from other countries.
The Czech NGO South Bohemian Mothers today condemned the effort to end the Melk process.
"We consider the Melk process unfulfilled as not all safety issues have been solved," the NGO's head Monika Machova-Wittingerova said.
The commission that comprised members of both houses of Czech and Austrian parliaments was established on the basis of an agreement the two countries' current leaders, PM Mirek Topolanek and Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, struck in early 2007.
In the Melk agreement, Prague pledged to have Temelin's safety assessed by EU experts, to check the plant's impact on the environment and launch a special hotline for Austria and the Czech Republic to promptly exchange information.
Austria, on its part, pledged not to block Prague's EU accession and prevent border blockades by Temelin's opponents.
The Austrians consider the Melk agreement an interstate treaty, while the Czechs view it as a mere political agreement.
The Czech Republic has not challenged the Melk agreement and it has observed it, but says it does not have attributes of an interstate agreement and therefore it cannot be enforced on the basis of international law.
Lower Austrian anti-nuke activists today demonstrated against the possible end of the Melk process.
Lower Austrian government representatives for Temelin, Rudi Anschober and Radko Pavlovec, today called on the Austrian cabinet to insist on the formation of an independent arbitration that would assess the Melk process's legal character and the technical issues that continue to be open.
(Ceske Noviny)
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