Safeguards implementation in the EU: A new era of co-operation between Euratom safeguards and the IAEA.

In 1978, the European Community (Euratom), its (Non Nuclear Weapon) Member States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, known as INFCIRC 193 or, in Community jargon, as the Verification Agreement. In this Agreement safeguards were designed in a way that for their implementation the IAEA would rely mainly on the Euratom Safeguards System: “The Agency shall apply its Safeguards,…, in such a manner as to enable it to verify,… findings of the Community’s system of Safeguards”. The Euratom Safeguards System is established in Chapter VII of the \"Euratom Treaty\" and the Commission is the institution in charge of its implementation. It consists of a reporting system and an inspection system. Furthermore, the Commission is endowed by the Treaty with coercive powers, a unique feature for an international organization, in that it may impose sanctions to nuclear facility operators or Member States in cases of infringement. It is important to note that there is a Court of Justice that can be called directly to intervene if there is any problem in implementing inspections. The Safeguards Agreement foresees that the Agency shall take account of the effectiveness of the Community’s system but also the Agency’s right to perform independent measurements and observations. Last not least, the Agreement requires that the parties implement it in a way that unnecessary duplication of activities is avoided.