[autom.vertaling] Bulgarije sluit moeilijke energiebesprekingen met de EU (en)
Bulgaria closed Monday in Brussels the energy chapter of negotiations and put an end to ten years of hard talks with EU and other European bodies over the nuclear safety issue.
The closure of the chapter implies a partial halt in activity at the Koslodui power plant. Sofia got this concession on the condition that it should happen after a peer review is conducted. The Bulgarian foreign minister Solomon Passy claimed the two sides found "an excellent solution." He added that Bulgaria is the first country to have such a settlement with the EU.
The independent expert assessment is set to begin next year after the final pre-accession talks with the Union. The results will then inidicate if reactors three and four of Koslodui should really be closed by 2006, as the EU initially asked for.
The first two reactors of the plant will be closed before 2003 while reactors five and six could be modernised. In 2000 Bulgaria received a Euratom loan for this. The first half of the loan was already granted to the country, the second half will shortly follow now that the energy talks are closed.
Bulgaria has closed twenty-three out of thirty chapters of pre-accession negotiation and is set to end talks for 2003. The country is expected to join the Union in 2007.