Ensuring radiation protection: Commission refers LATVIA to Court to guarantee citizens' protection from ionising radiation-exposure risks

29 Sep 2022 03:29 PM

The Commission is taking legal steps to ensure the protection of citizens, workers and patients against the dangers arising from exposure to ionizing radiation. Yesterday, the Commission decided to refer Latvia to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to fully transpose the revised Basic Safety Standards Directive (Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom) into national legislation.

Member States were required to transpose the Directive by 6 February 2018. The Commission has been providing continuous support to the Member States to properly transpose the rules. In December 2021, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Latvia requesting it to notify the Commission of all transposition measures for the Directive. Since then, Latvia notified additional transposition measures, but has not yet transposed all the provisions of the Directive.

In particular, it has not transposed the requirement to establish optimised protection strategies for managing contaminated areas; it has not arranged for the establishment and implementation of strategies to ensure the appropriate management of existing exposure situations; and it has not adopted a radon action plan addressing long-term risks from exposures to radon, as required by the Directive. Therefore, the Commission yesterday referred Latvia to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

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