The Implementation of a new Safeguards Regulation in the European Union

At the end of the nineties the European Commission decided to up-date and upgrade the Safeguards Regulation applied in all EU countries in order to cope with the challenges of the current NMAC requirements, to enable the Commission to assume its role under the Additional Protocol and to facilitate reporting and, in particular, data treatment and evaluation for the needs of the Euratom Safeguards department. The new Regulation entered into force on March 20, 2005 after the successful completion of a lengthy legislative procedure involving the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the Member States of the European Union. The paper refers to the principal novelties introduced by the new Regulation, elaborates on the difficulties encountered during the initial implementation period and presents the relationship between this legal act and the Additional Protocol. The paper also describes the impact on the procedure of integrating the new EU Member States into the Euratom Safeguards System.