Multi-level legal framework of radioactive waste management and Good Governance.

Long-term Category B&C radioactive waste management (RWM) should be carried out through a reversible and step-by-step approach with well defined decision points. Currently, the degree to which the step-by-step process is legally implemented, varies from Member State to Member State. Moreover, it is now widely acknowledged that the technocratic approach ofRWM must be replaced by innovative governance techniques that can manage public opinions, legislative initiatives and stakeholder participation. This shift is in stark contrast to the strict top-down approach of the past decades and could be firstly and mostly attributed to the utter failure of the technocratic approach in the previous years to deliver long-term solutions to the RWM sector. A second stimulant in this regard is the promotion of sustainable development and its component element, namely good governance, in almost all other national developmental contexts. In this light, a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary appraisal of the European legal framework, substantive and institutional, within the context of RWM is necessary in order to identify and characterize the emancipatory potentials which can propel the legal transposition of good governance practices in RWM. More specifically, the underlying question which will be tackled by the research is how can common policies and regulations in the field of RWM within the legal framework of the EU be enacted in accordance with principles of good governance? In order to address this question, the research at the onset undertakes to develop a suitable concept of good governance for RWM. Based on its findings, the research will then proceed to conceptualize the substantive and institutional aspects of RWM regulation. In this context it will examine the existing norms and principles within the European legal order as well as the institutional competences and functions of the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament in relation to RWM.

Keywords:International law

Disciplines:Law

Project type:PhD project