EU Statement at IAEA Board of Governors on Brazil's Naval Nuclear Propulsion, as delivered on 7 June 2023
Chair,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The following countries align themselves with this statement: Türkiye§, North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Serbia*, Albania*, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, Georgia, Iceland+, Liechtenstein+ and Norway+.
The EU would like to thank the Director General for his report contained in GOV/INF/2023/11.
The EU strongly supports the IAEA’s independent verification role under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the strengthening of the IAEA’s safeguards system. We continue to call for the universalisation of the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements together with the Additional Protocol as the current verification standard, and encourage all States to support this objective by bringing into force these important instruments.
Chair,
The EU takes note that the Agency and Brazil have engaged on technical discussions in relation to an arrangement under Special Procedures pursuant to Article 13 of the Quadripartite Safeguards Agreement (QSA) between Argentina, Brazil, the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC) and the Agency. We also note that the Agency, upon Brazil’s invitation, has been able to visit relevant facilities together with ABACC and that it foresees the continuation of technical consultations. We welcome such cooperation and can only encourage further sharing of information, notably under Article 40 of the QSA and Code 3.1.2 of the Subsidiary Arrangements (General Part) thereto.
The EU looks forward to further reporting by the IAEA Director General on this matter and taking appropriate action once an arrangement has been finalised.
Thank you, Chair.
§ Candidate Country
* Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
+ Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are members of the EFTA and of the European Economic Area.