Signed in 1957 and still in force, the EURATOM Treaty is
A PRO-NUCLEAR treaty
Article 1 of the Treaty establishes the EURATOM EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY, whose mission is to "contribute to the raising of the standard of living" in the member states by creating the "conditions necessary for the rapid formation and growth of nuclear industries".
Article 2 of the Treaty lists all that EURATOM must do to fulfill its mission: "to develop research and to disseminate technical knowledge"; "facilitate investments"; "ensure the supply (...) of ores and nuclear fuels"; "to secure broad outlets and access to the best technical means (...)", etc.
An OBSOLETE treaty
The EURATOM treaty was built on the idea that nuclear energy would bring prosperity: nuclear power had to be safe, clean and cheap.
It was already questionable at the time: 1957 was indeed the year of the Windscale accident, in England, and the Mayak catastrophe of, in the USSR. It is no longer acceptable in 2018, after Chernobyl and Fukushima, after the hundreds of millions of tonnes of radioactive waste bequeathed to future generations.
A tragic TRAP for our HEALTH
The standards of protection of the population and workers against the dangers of radioactivity are established within the framework of EURATOM while its basic mission is to develop the nuclear industry! Because of this major conflict of interest, trade-offs between economic and health interests have been, and continue to be, at the expense of our health. What would be said of a treaty establishing a European pesticide community, called "EUROPEST", which would be entrusted with defining the protection standards for Monsanto or Bayer products?
A MAJOR RISK for our environment
In normal operation, we already have radioactive waste, radioactive, chemical and thermal releases into the atmosphere, watercourses and oceans, and the recycling of contaminated metals and rubble without the knowledge of consumers.
In the event of a major nuclear accident, the life of every European citizen would be affected, millions of citizens could lose everything, hundreds of thousands of square kilometers would become uninhabitable and unfit for any culture.
A treaty that makes OBSTACLE to RENEWABLE ENERGIES
By reserving preferential treatment to nuclear energy, by exempting the nuclear industry from the application of the polluter pays principle, the treaty creates distortions of competition.
By monopolizing aid and subsidies, nuclear energy dramatically reduces the money available for energy efficiency, thermal renovation and renewable energies
An ANTI-DEMOCRATIC treaty
Euratom derogates from the normal operation of the European Union. The European Parliament has only an advisory role, not to say figurative, while the decisions taken are essential for the future of the environment and the health of all. The European citizens' initiative, which allows 1 million citizens to call on the European Commission to legislate, does not apply to Euratom and therefore to nuclear power. In addition, vital decisions for our future are based on the work of anonymous experts who do not report to anyone, even when their work is full of errors.