THE Bulgarian Government on Monday formally ended the dispute on the future of Units 3 and 4 of Kozlodui nuclear power plant by agreeing to close them by the end of 2006.
At a meeting of the EU-Bulgaria Association Council at ministerial level, Bulgaria provisionally closed the energy chapter of the Acquis Communautaire in line with the 1999 memorandum, the Cabinet's decision of September 2002, and the National Assembly decision of October 2002, the Foreign Ministry said.
The 15 EU member-countries agreed to send experts for a peer review of the level of safety of Units 3 and 4. The review should be made before the final completion of the EU accession talks. However, the closure of the two reactors was not in any way tied to the Bulgarian accession to the Union. Regardless of the results of the review, Bulgaria will decommission the two reactors.
The final stage of the talks on the energy chapter lasted more than 12 months. The Bulgarian side negotiated the conditions for the integration of the Bulgarian energy market into the EU internal energy market. Special attention was paid to the establishment of a national oil reserve in line with EU legislation. The Bulgarian side negotiated a six-year grace period as of the membership date, January 1, 2007, to build this reserve.
Nuclear energy featured high on the agenda of talks. In this arena Bulgaria insists to be treated on an equal footing with the other applicants. The Foreign Ministry noted that with the provisional closure of the Energy Chapter the Bulgaria-EU talks would enter a new stage.
Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) deputy leader Vladimir Kisyov, former chief negotiator with the EU, told Bulgarian National Radio on Tuesday that the closing of the Energy Chapter and the promise to shut down Units 3 and 4 of Kozlodui amount to a betrayal of the national interests of the country.
In Kisyov's words, this was an unprecedented case in the country's recent history because it involved a refusal to respect the constitution and a decision of Parliament. Kisyov went on to say that the National Assembly had not given the Government a mandate to set 2006 as the deadline for the decommissioning of the third and fourth reactors.
He said that the prosecution service should file criminal charges against the Government for its failure to abide by the decision of Parliament. The UDF will ask for a vote of no confidence in the Government over this case. The Bulgarian Socialist Party announced it would back the vote.
At a meeting of the EU-Bulgaria Association Council at ministerial level, Bulgaria provisionally closed the energy chapter of the Acquis Communautaire in line with the 1999 memorandum, the Cabinet's decision of September 2002, and the National Assembly decision of October 2002, the Foreign Ministry said.
The 15 EU member-countries agreed to send experts for a peer review of the level of safety of Units 3 and 4. The review should be made before the final completion of the EU accession talks. However, the closure of the two reactors was not in any way tied to the Bulgarian accession to the Union. Regardless of the results of the review, Bulgaria will decommission the two reactors.
The final stage of the talks on the energy chapter lasted more than 12 months. The Bulgarian side negotiated the conditions for the integration of the Bulgarian energy market into the EU internal energy market. Special attention was paid to the establishment of a national oil reserve in line with EU legislation. The Bulgarian side negotiated a six-year grace period as of the membership date, January 1, 2007, to build this reserve.
Nuclear energy featured high on the agenda of talks. In this arena Bulgaria insists to be treated on an equal footing with the other applicants. The Foreign Ministry noted that with the provisional closure of the Energy Chapter the Bulgaria-EU talks would enter a new stage.
Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) deputy leader Vladimir Kisyov, former chief negotiator with the EU, told Bulgarian National Radio on Tuesday that the closing of the Energy Chapter and the promise to shut down Units 3 and 4 of Kozlodui amount to a betrayal of the national interests of the country.
In Kisyov's words, this was an unprecedented case in the country's recent history because it involved a refusal to respect the constitution and a decision of Parliament. Kisyov went on to say that the National Assembly had not given the Government a mandate to set 2006 as the deadline for the decommissioning of the third and fourth reactors.
He said that the prosecution service should file criminal charges against the Government for its failure to abide by the decision of Parliament. The UDF will ask for a vote of no confidence in the Government over this case. The Bulgarian Socialist Party announced it would back the vote.
