29 June 1995

Doc. 7344

MOTION FOR A RECOMMENDATION

on the effects of the Chernobyl disaster

presented by Mrs RAGNARSDÓTTIR and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1.       The undersigned, members of the Assembly, recall Recommendation 1208 (1993) on the health effect of the Chernobyl nuclear accident and the need for stronger international action, in which the Assembly invited the Committee of Ministers to support and accelerate the System of Epidemological Information and assistance for medical decisions set up by the Council of Europe's Partial Agreement on Co-operation for the prevention of, Protection against, and Organisation of Relief in Major Natural and Technological Disasters in co-ordination with the Commission of the European Communities and the Radiation Unit of the World Health Organisation and instructed the competent committee to report on this programme and initiate action on the basis of its findings in regard to nuclear safety.

2.       They also refer to the reply given by the Committee of Ministers according to which the States Parties to the Partial Agreement were unable to provide the requisite support and abandoned the programm leaving it to the European Union to carry it on.

3.       They note that almost ten years after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, it has been discovered that the extent of the consequences of this accident is much greater than had been estimated by the experts, that neither the requested medical assistance and co-operation in the wake of the disaster nor the project planned by the Open Partial Agreement has materialised.

4.       It has nevertheless now been acknowledged that the area exposed to radiation is much larger than was previously estimated, and also that the number of victims is increasing from year to year, and that, for example, a recent report has established that an increasing number of children living in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, are developing thyroid cancer.

5.       Longer-term effects are to be expected, such as the emergence of genetic diseases affecting the descendants of persons affected by radiation.

6.       There are also tragic social consequences owing to the inadequacy of assistance for victims in terms both of health care and social welfare, particularly where the children are concerned.

7.       Even the economic development of Ukraine has been jeopardised by the continuing hazards and the state of the power station itself, which was considered extremely worrying by European experts in a report drawn up in March 1995, and such considerations are a deterrent to investment.

8.       The Commission of the European Union is assisting in any way it can, but, bearing in mind that Chernobyl is far outside the boundaries of the European Union, it falls within the geopolitical area of Council of Europe responsibility, all the more so as Ukraine has special guest status with the Parliamentary Assembly.

9.       The undersigned, members of the Assembly urgently request the Committee of Ministers, representing 34 European countries, to take responsibility for the tragic catastrophe, and to ensure that everything possible is done to relieve those who suffer from its repercussions and actively plan for a safer and more prosperous future for the region.

Signed:

Ragnarsdottir, Iceland, EDG

Figel, Slovakia, PPE

Cimoszewicz, Poland, -

Gjellerod, Denmark, SOC

Jaani, Estonia, PPE

Newall, United Kingdom, EDG

Gricius, Lithuania, LDR

Severin, Romania, SOC

Mignon, France, EDG

D. Smith, United Kingdom, EDG

Rathbone, United Kingdom, EDG

Hardy, United Kingdom, SOC

Cummings, United Kingdom, SOC

Cox, United Kingdom, SOC

Dundee, United Kingdom, EDG

Landsbergis, Lithuania, EDG

Sinka, Latvia, EDG

Alexander, United Kingdom, EDG

Durant, United Kingdom, EDG

Berg, Norway, LDR

(continued overleaf)

Atkinson, United Kingdom, EDG

Magnusson, Sweden, SOC

Waniek, Poland, SOC

Robert, Switzerland, LDR

Gotzev, Bulgaria, PPE

Wohlwend, Liechtenstein, PPE

Seitlinger, France, PPE

Ruffy, Switzerland, SOC

Albrink, Denmark, EDG

Lie, Norway, PPE

Bindig, Germany, SOC

Schluckebier, Germany, SOC

Motiu, Romania, -

Seeuws, Belgium, SOC

D. Thompson, United Kingdom, EDG

*       SOC : Socialist Group

      EPP : Group of the European People's Party

      EDG : European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group

      UEL : Group of the Unified European Left