New Delhi
4 March 2008
The European Union will need an assurance that a safeguards agreement
has been concluded with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) before it can begin to
consider the India-United States nuclear deal, an EU official said.
"There is no definite common view [but it would be more] encouraging if India could conclude a
safeguards agreement ... that would be a first step," the official said, adding that the fate of the
123 Agreement with the US would be keenly watched.
All 27 member-states of the EU are members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which needs
to amend its guidelines for allowing India to engage in global nuclear commerce. Like the NSG,
EU operates by consensus.
France, led by its President Nicolas Sarkozy, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have
supported the deal but there is no unanimity among the member-states.
An aide of EU's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana,
in turn, said that concerns about certain aspects of the India-US nuclear deal have precluded
any possibility of arriving at a common position by the 27 member-states.
"We don't have a common position [because there are] very sincerely held fears on
implications for worldwide non-proliferation," the aide said. He nevertheless explained away the
differences by saying that the EU has common but not single foreign policy.
To a question whether EU's reluctance to support India goes against the grain of strategic
partnership, the Solana aide simply said that strategic partnership remains undefined. "It is
nebulous but not useless ... it is what you want it to be," the aide added.
A source familiar with the sentiments within EU on the nuclear deal said that there is "suspicion"
within the European Commission and the EU Council. "There is reluctance to go down that
route," the source said.
The source elaborated that there is a concern that the deal could free up material for weapons.
"The EU would need reassurances ... for the moment [it is] divided [and it] will take a few
months, not overnight ... there is frustration in some parts," the source added.
Another EU official, who did not want to be named, said that the EU does not prescribe policy
positions for its member-states on issues such as the India-US nuclear deal, so long as they
conform to international commitments.
The official said that the India-US nuclear deal should be consistent with the Euratom Treaty and
with the EU's obligations deriving from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The EU did
not foreclose the option of reviewing the deal, it was added.
According to the official, the EU member-states are free to enter into bilateral nuclear deals but
all such agreements could be submitted for approval to the European Commission for
ascertaining whether they conform to the Euratom Treaty.
France, for instance, has finalised the text of a bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement with
India. European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner recently told a
news conference here that the France-Libya bilateral nuclear pact could be examined.
Libya is a member of NPT, India is not. The official was not sure if the Euratom Treaty prohibits
nuclear pacts with non-NPT countries but iterated that the deal could pass muster if the global
non-proliferation regime and EU's international commitments were protected.
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