Brussels, 26/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - Responding on behalf of the Greens to the Council's adoption on 25 June of the revised directive setting a common framework on nuclear safety (see EUROPE 9929), Rebecca Harms (Germany), on Friday 26, slammed the “hollow assurances” given by member states on nuclear safety. “EU governments are washing their hands of real responsibility for nuclear safety. This empty shell of a directive is a gift to Nicolas Sarkozy (Ed: the French President) and the nuclear lobby - a masquerade that has been entirely geared towards endorsing the safety of nuclear power stations instead of improving it. Existing nuclear power stations will not even be covered by the scope of the directive. Member states clearly have no appetite for common, binding standards and are settling for the IAEA's nuclear safety 'principles' to which they have already signed up. This directive was an opportunity to commit to hard and fast technical standards, apparently a step too far for EU governments,” Harms says in a press release. (E.H./transl.rt)