Strengthening of Nuclear Liability Demo

Community. The way the Union copes with the situation is that it authorises the Member States to accede to an international convention by a special decision. 66 Such authorisation was issued with regard to the ratification of the Protocol to Amend the Paris Convention of 2004 by those Member States which are the Contracting Parties to the Paris Convention of 1960. And, consequently, such a kind of authorization is needed also with regard to the ratification of the Protocol to Amend the Vienna Convention of 1997 by those Contracting Parties to it which entered the European Union during the “Eastern enlargement” . However, Poland ratified the Protocol to Amend the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage of 1997 on 21 September 2010, and, consequently, the Protocol entered into force in this country on 21 December 2010. Poland did this step without being authorised to do so by the European Commission. Further, in Autumn 2012, the Commission drafted an authorisation on acceding or ratifying the Protocol to Amend the Vienna Convention of 1997 by all the “new” Member States which are the Contracting Party to the Vienna Convention on Nuclear Liability of 1963 (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria and Romania). 67 The following text aims at analysing requirements arising from this proposed decision 68 and its potential to contribute to the harmonisation of nuclear third party liability in the European Union. 69 1.2.1 Background: “Nuclear Liability Labyrinth” in Europe Nuclear liability conventions of the “first generation” Most of the “old” Member States are the Contracting Parties to the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy of 1960 (hereinafter also the “Paris Convention”) 70 and to the Brussels Convention Supplementary to the Paris Convention of 1960 (hereinafter also the “Brussels 66 There is a similar situation in the area of liability of ship owners (maritime liability). See RINGBOM, H. EU Regulation 44/2001 and Its Implications for the International Maritime Liability Conventions, Journal of Maritime Law & Commerce , Danvers, 35, 2004, p. 1 et seqq. 67 COM (2012) 550 final. 68 This text was finished in April 2013 and, consequently, it reflects the legal situation up to this date. Therefore, when reading this text, it is of major importance to check for the current state regarding the draft decision. 69 For details on this problem see HANDRLICA, J. European Atomic Energy Community and the Nuclear Third Party Liability, In ŠTURMA, P. ed. Czech Yearbook of Public and Private International Law , Vol. 3, Prague : CSIL, 2012, p. 15 et seqq. 70 The Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy of 29 July 1960, as amended by the Additional Protocol of 28 January 1964 and by the Protocol of 16 November 1982. The 1960 Convention and the 1964 Protocol entered into force on 1 April 1968. The 1982 Protocol entered into force on 7 October 1988.

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