UK should keep close relationship with Euratom: British MPs

British MPs have demanded close nuclear regulatory co-operation with the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) after leaving the EU, noting otherwise the impacts will be “profound.”

MPs on a Commons committee warned Tuesday that unless the UK retains a very close relationship with the Euratom after Brexit, it will not be able to deliver safeguards to Euratom standards by the date of its departure from the bloc in March 2019.

“We conclude that the Government should seek to retain as close as possible a relationship with Euratom, and that this should include accepting its delivery of existing safeguards requirements in the UK,” reads a report from the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee.

After the UK general election in June, the government published a policy paper, arguing that the intention to leave the nuclear regulator was provided when Prime Minister Theresa May invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – triggering the Brexit process.

“This reflects the fact that the treaties of the EU and Euratom are uniquely legally joined,” the paper added.

The report by the committee comes as over 100 MPs signed an amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, which deals with London’s intention to leave Euratom after Brexit, demanding that May guarantee protections for the nuclear industry.

“Throughout our inquiry, no-one has advocated to us leaving Euratom. As a leading member of Euratom, the UK has driven standards and ensured our national interests are front and centre of the development of the industry in Europe,” said Rachel Reeves, the Labour MP who chairs the committee in Westminster.

“But we now face the prospect of setting-up our own nuclear safeguarding regime in its place which falls short of the Euratom standards. This requires us to set up our own bureaucracy, which comes at a cost of millions, with very real doubts that it will actually be ready in time.”

Established in 1957, Euratom regulates the nuclear industry across Europe, disposes waste, safeguards the transport of nuclear materials, facilitates the mobility of workers in the sector, and carries out nuclear research and development.

SS