Police co-operation

The Maastricht Treaty foresees, for the purposes of achieving the objectives of the Union, that the Member States will regard a number of areas as matters of common interest. Of these, juridical co-operation in criminal matters, customs co-operation in non-harmonized sectors and police co-operation for the purpose of preventing and combating serious forms of international crime would appear to be the most concerned action to combat illicit nuclear traffic. As regards direct police co-operation, the Commission can only approve the possibility of extending the authority of the future European Police Office, Europol [22], to the traffic in radio-active substances and nuclear material, under the heading of "other serious forms of international crime", with which the Office would be dealing under Article Kl of the Maastricht Treaty.

4. CONCLUSIONS

The safety of radiation sources and the security of radioactive materials are directly connected with serious legal complexity. The current status of the respective legislation gives no reason for major concern. As has been pointed out in this paper, from the point of view of the European Commission there is a need for national and international action in order to keep pace with technical developments. Although there is no need for new legal regulations, regular revision, correct implementation and consequent enforcement of existing laws must all be attended to.

There is a need for supporting, assisting and improving the close co-operation between national and international organizations, government authorities and regula-tory bodies. It is necessary to establish, on the broadest basis, common channels for exchange of information, for information systems and for co-operation with law enforcement agencies and customs authorities in the case of illicit traffic. There is one area which should be mentioned especially. As stated above, the human factor plays an important role in preventing accidents and illicit traffic. Therefore, careful and sound education and training should be made available for personnel employed in the nuclear industry, the medical sector, research, regulatory bodies and other authorities involved in the field.

This bundle of proposals for measures will certainly improve and strengthen the application of the existing legal regime in order to respond successfully to the chal-lenge of radiation protection of the workers, the general public and the environment.

The expertise and experience of the IAEA, the WCO, Interpol and other national and international organizations should be applied. I can assure you that the European Commission, and in particular the Nuclear Safety Directorate, will contribute to this end wherever and whenever possible.

REFERENCES

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IAEA-CN-70/B2.7 121

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THE REGULATORY CONTROL OF RADIATION SOURCES,