Statement of the Republic of Slovenia on behalf of the European Union by mr. Bojan Bertoncelj, Chargé d`Affaires for Multilateral Affairs, Permanent Mission of Slovenia
Mr. Chairman,
1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Candidate Countries Croatia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, the EFTA country Iceland, member of the European Economic Area, as well as The Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, associate themselves with this statement.
Mr. Chairman,
2. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is one of the major international scientific and technical cooperation projects. What is at stake is the production, on a global scale, of long-term and environment-friendly energy, in a context requiring a large worldwide increase in research efforts on energy sources to replace fossil fuels.
3. The European Union welcomes the entry into force (24 October 2007) of the Agreement on the establishment of the ITER International Fusion Energy Organisation for the Joint implementation of the ITER Project, which represents a milestone in nuclear fusion research. The EU attaches great importance to the ITER project and wishes to recognise the important and constructive contribution of the Agency to the project. We note that the main emphasis of the Agency’s fusion programme is on increasing international cooperation and support for science and technology for fusion power. The EU would also like to recall that parties to ITER have entrusted the Director General as the depositary of the international agreement on the establishment of the ITER International Organisation.
4. Finally, Mr. Chairman, the European Union supports the approval by the Board of the corresponding recommendation in document GOV/2008/13.
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
