SLOVAKIA SLAMMED FOR INSUFFICIENT NUCLEAR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
European Commission has to take steps against Mochovce nuclear power plant
Brussels / Bratislava - 14 January 2011 - Yesterday, the Aarhus Convention Compliance
Committee slammed Slovakia for lack of proper public consultation on the Mochovce 3,4
nuclear power project. This decision means that Slovakia also is in breach with EU law and that
the European Commission will have to supervise its implementation. The decision implies that
construction of the Mochovce nuclear power plant will have to be stopped until a new
Environmental Impact Assessment has been carried out.
Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace EU nuclear expert: “This groundbreaking decision shows that you
cannot build dangerous nuclear power stations without taking the input of the public into proper
account. It is now up to the European Commission to keep Slovakia to its legal obligations.
Mochovce construction should stop right away.”
CONTACTS
Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace EU campaigner dirty energy, jan.haverkamp@greenpeace.org,
+32 477 790 416
Andrea Zlatnanska, Greenpeace energy campaigner in Slovakia,
andrea.zlatnanska@greenpeace.org, +421 905 745 879
NOTES
The Mochovce 3,4 nuclear power project is situated in Southern Slovakia near the Hungarian
and Austrian border. It is constructed by the energy giant ENEL from Italy. It consists of two
1970s soviet design reactors that miss crucial safety features, including a secondary
containment that is to protect the power station from among others attacks from outside.
Slovakia allowed active construction of the Mochovce 3,4 nuclear reactors before the public
was properly consulted on the project. Greenpeace, Slovak NGO Za Matku Zem, Global2000
(Friends of the Earth Austria) and the Viennese Ökobüro filed complaints to Slovak courts and
the UNECE Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) based in Geneva. The ACCC
is the highest legal organ interpreting the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public
participation and access to justice in environmental matters. The ACCC decided that Slovakia
was wrong to allow construction of Mochovce without proper public participation being finished.
The ACCC decision means that Slovakia will have to order a halt to construction and re-do the
public participation in the Environmental Impact Assessment. Because the EU is a signatory to
the Aarhus Convention, the European Commission is obliged to start procedures against
Slovakia for breach of the Convention and related EU directives.
The documentation of the complaint procedure can be found on:
http://www.unece.org/env/pp/compliance/Compliance%20Committee/41TableSlovakia.htm
A copy of the final verdict can be obtained from Greenpeace.
Brussels / Bratislava - 14 January 2011 - Yesterday, the Aarhus Convention Compliance
Committee slammed Slovakia for lack of proper public consultation on the Mochovce 3,4
nuclear power project. This decision means that Slovakia also is in breach with EU law and that
the European Commission will have to supervise its implementation. The decision implies that
construction of the Mochovce nuclear power plant will have to be stopped until a new
Environmental Impact Assessment has been carried out.
Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace EU nuclear expert: “This groundbreaking decision shows that you
cannot build dangerous nuclear power stations without taking the input of the public into proper
account. It is now up to the European Commission to keep Slovakia to its legal obligations.
Mochovce construction should stop right away.”
CONTACTS
Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace EU campaigner dirty energy, jan.haverkamp@greenpeace.org,
+32 477 790 416
Andrea Zlatnanska, Greenpeace energy campaigner in Slovakia,
andrea.zlatnanska@greenpeace.org, +421 905 745 879
NOTES
The Mochovce 3,4 nuclear power project is situated in Southern Slovakia near the Hungarian
and Austrian border. It is constructed by the energy giant ENEL from Italy. It consists of two
1970s soviet design reactors that miss crucial safety features, including a secondary
containment that is to protect the power station from among others attacks from outside.
Slovakia allowed active construction of the Mochovce 3,4 nuclear reactors before the public
was properly consulted on the project. Greenpeace, Slovak NGO Za Matku Zem, Global2000
(Friends of the Earth Austria) and the Viennese Ökobüro filed complaints to Slovak courts and
the UNECE Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) based in Geneva. The ACCC
is the highest legal organ interpreting the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public
participation and access to justice in environmental matters. The ACCC decided that Slovakia
was wrong to allow construction of Mochovce without proper public participation being finished.
The ACCC decision means that Slovakia will have to order a halt to construction and re-do the
public participation in the Environmental Impact Assessment. Because the EU is a signatory to
the Aarhus Convention, the European Commission is obliged to start procedures against
Slovakia for breach of the Convention and related EU directives.
The documentation of the complaint procedure can be found on:
http://www.unece.org/env/pp/compliance/Compliance%20Committee/41TableSlovakia.htm
A copy of the final verdict can be obtained from Greenpeace.