The right to public participation is a vital part of democratic governance. The principle of public participation holds that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process. Public participation implies that the public’s contribution will influence the decision.
The aim of NTW is to stress the importance of access to information, knowledge and expertise for transparent decision making processes on nuclear energy.
NTW decided to set up an Aarhus hotline “Access to Information”. This hotline aims to provide the support of NTW to the requests made by members of the network to the European institutions and / or to the States concerned, regarding the access to information on decisions affecting the environment and health in the nuclear field.
I) Aarhus hotline on radioactive waste export from Hungary to Russia:
The Association already initiated a first work of support at the European level of the monitoring action led by national CSOs: NTW send to the European Commission a letter in 26 November, 2013 addressed to the European Commissioner Günther Oettinger and requesting clarification related to the legality of the export programmed by the Hungarian operator of nuclear waste to Russia.
| Action | Date | Condition |
| First complaint sent by letter to the European Commission | 26/11/2013 | Sent |
| Acknowledgement of receipt from the European Commission | 19/12/2013 | Received |
| Telephone reminder | 11/02/2014 | ok |
| Reply from the European Commission | 26/02/2014 | Received |
| New letter to have more precisions | 03/04/2014 | Sent |
| Waiting for a new response. | 16/05/2014 | Still waiting |
For more information, click here.
II) Aarhus hotline regarding the access to an European Commission study on Emergency Preparedness and Response:
The aim of this new request is the access to a study of DG ENER commissioned in 2013 with the title “Review of current off-site nuclear emergency preparedness and response arrangements in EU member states and neighbouring countries” and that was not published.
| Action | Date | Condition |
| Request sent by letter to the European Commission | 03/03/2014 | Sent |
| Reply from the Commission | 07/05/2014 | Received |
| NTW received the study on Emergency Preparedness and Response from the European Commission. | 08/05/2014 | Received |
For more information, click here.
III) Aarhus hotline to warn Belgian minister to respect transparency laws in lifetime extension of Doel 1 & 2 nuclear power reactors
NTW’s Chair, Michèle Rivasi sent a letter on 30 April to the Belgian federal minister of Energy Marie-Christine Marghem, that her legislative proposal to extend the lifetime of the 40 years old Doel 1 and Doel 2 nuclear power reactors threatens to break international rules for transparency.
NTW hasn’t received any reply from the Belgian Minister.
IV) Aarhus hotline on EU financial support for lifetime extension of Ukraine’s nuclear reactors
At a meeting with campaigners from Nuclear Transparency Watch (NTW) and CEE Bankwatch Network on 1st July in the European Parliament, MEPs from six political groups have decided to join the call for freezing the loan proceedings until a full transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and a public consultation are launched and carried out in accordance with international treaties to which Ukraine is a party.
On 10 September, MEPs have received a reply from the Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr. Katainen, one of the four addressees.