(1)

The European Union has committed to continue to provide adequate additional European Community assistance to Lithuania's effort to decommission the Ignalina nuclear power plant also after Lithuania's accession to the Union for the period until 2006 and beyond. This commitment was made formally in Protocol No 4 on the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania, annexed to the 2003 Act of Accession.

(2)

Bearing in mind this expression of Union solidarity, Lithuania committed to close Unit 1 of the Ignalina nuclear power plant before 2005 and Unit 2 by 31 December 2009 and to the subsequent decommissioning of these units. An assistance programme with a budget of EUR 285 million has been put in place to cover the period 2004 to 2006.

(3)

The decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant with two 1 500 MW RBMK-type reactors inherited from the former Soviet Union is of an unprecedented nature and represents an exceptional financial burden for Lithuania not commensurate with the size and economic strength of the country. The decommissioning will continue beyond the Community's current Financial Perspectives.

(4)

According to Protocol No 4 the Ignalina Programme for 2004 to 2006 will be seamlessly continued and extended beyond 2006 in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 56 of the 2003 Act of Accession and this extended programme will be based on the same elements and principles as the 2004 to 2006 programme.

(5)

It is therefore necessary to adopt rules for the implementation of the additional Community assistance for the period 2007 to 2013 to address the consequences of the closure and decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant.

(6)

According to Protocol No 4 for the period of the next Financial Perspectives, the overall average appropriations under the extended Ignalina Programme shall be appropriate. Programming of these resources will be based on actual payment needs and absorption capacity.

(7)

Protocol No 4 provides for different implementation routes for assistance to meet the abovementioned aims, including the direct delivery of assistance to Lithuania through a national administration body, accredited for full decentralisation, under which annual programmes have been implemented in the period 2004 to 2006. Consequently, Lithuania has an appropriate national implementation structure for the purpose of implementing measures under Protocol No 4 through a national agency in line with the delegation of budget-implementation tasks under Articles 53(2) and 54(2)(c) of the Financial Regulation.

(8)

International decommissioning funds managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have been in place for a number of years. Through the Phare programme in particular, the Community is the main contributor to these funds.

(9)

Consequently, provision should be made for a contribution from the general budget of the European Union to fund the decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant over the period from 2007 to 2013.

(10)

The financial assistance may continue to be made available as a Community contribution to the Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund managed by the EBRD.

(11)

The Ignalina Programme also includes measures to support plant personnel in maintaining a high level of operational safety at the Ignalina nuclear power plant in the periods prior to the closure and during the decommissioning of the reactor units.

(12)

The tasks of the EBRD include managing the public funds allocated to the programmes for decommissioning nuclear power plants and monitoring the financial management of these programmes so as to optimise the use of public money. In addition, the EBRD carries out the budget tasks entrusted to it by the Commission in line with the requirements of Article 53(7) of the Financial Regulation.

(13)

The decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant will be carried out in line with the legislation on the environment, particularly Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (3).

(14)

A financial reference amount, within the meaning of point 38 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (4), is included in this Regulation for the entire duration of the programme, without thereby affecting the powers of the budgetary authority as defined by the Treaty establishing the European Community.

(15)

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (5),