Austria and Germany discuss Temelin and EU enlargement

During a two-day official trip to Austria, the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his Austrian counterpart, Wolfgang Schussel discussed Austria's reservations to the Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia and EU enlargement. At a press conference in Vienna, Mr. Schussel told reporters that both Chancellors agreed that the question of neighbouring nuclear power stations, including Temelin, needed to be taken seriously and ought to be handled by the European Commission and the countries affected. Mr. Schussel added that Austria was asking the Czech Republic to be considerate and assure Vienna that Temelin enjoyed high safety standards. Chancellor Schroeder said that he wanted to stress the fact that Germany's goal was not to dictate to other countries how they should produce their energy but just to make sure that all border-area nuclear power reactors were safe. Both Chancellors said they were in favour of EU enlargement, adding that they hoped the problems that had arisen from their proposal of a seven-year transition period regarding the free movement of labour would be solved at the EU summit in Sweden.