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From: Transitions Online <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: New at TOL
Date: 11 December 2000 23:31
Transitions Online (TOL) (http://www.tol.cz) is the leading Internet
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NEW AT TOL:
WEEK IN REVIEW
http://www.tol.cz/week.html
As Expected, Iliescu Wins Romanian Presidential Race
Russia May Pardon Convicted American Spy
Mostly Satisfaction Over Nice Summit
Stepashin: Funds for Chechnya Embezzled
Chernobyl: Tragedy To Be Laid To Rest
Mass Grave Found in Bosnian Riverbed
Central Bank Dispute May Damage Czech Economy
Yugoslavia To Recall Milosevic's Ambassador Brother From Moscow
Slovak Treaty To Give Catholic Church Greater Social Role
Mongolian Government Ruled Illegal by Constitutional Court
OUR TAKE: Mixed Signals
On the legacy of Chernobyl
The full text of this article appears below
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=6&NrSection=16&NrArticle=466&ST_max=0
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Special Report:
All in the Family: The Enlargement Quagmire
OPINION: No Slowing Down
by Erhard Busek
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=6&NrSection=3&NrArticle=469
Short-term profit motives cannot be the decisive argument for a project
as monumental in importance as the enlargement of the European Union.
This is a project that demands from us a larger vision of a reunited
continent of peace and stability for decades to come. Nevertheless, for
those whose judgment is still lingering as to whether or not the
enlargement of the EU will be economically rational and beneficial,
economists are now providing convincing answers. With enlargement now a
big step closer after Nice, Austria's former vice chancellor argues that
the EU needs a flexible migration regime to benefit all.
OPINION: The Enlargement Aftertaste
by Lubos Palata
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=6&NrSection=3&NrArticle=467
The first reaction across Central and Eastern Europe to the European
Union's Nice marathon summit was satisfaction. The collapse of the
meetings, potentially bankrupting any plans for enlargement had, after
all, been staved off at the last minute. But that "success" also left a
bitter aftertaste for those waiting at the door. The only reason for
jubilation, in the end, was that the agreement will enable the EU, even
with only a set of provisional rules, to enlarge.
OPINION: Can the EMU fly?
by Evzen Kocenda
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=6&NrSection=3&NrArticle=470
After years of debate the European Union has made considerable progress
toward unprecedented integration. Economic and Monetary Union has become
a reality with its unifying common currency, the Euro. At the same time,
after years of anomalous economic evolution, the Central and Eastern
European countries are struggling to deal with their own transition
processes. Their aim is to eventually become equal members in the
European financial structure nicknamed "Euroland."
ANALYSIS: Is the Wedding Still On?
by Andrea Mrozek
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=6&NrSection=2&NrArticle=460
(Article posted 7 December)
In Nice, the EU member states set out to determine the most logical way
to absorb new members: in essence, how and when new countries will enter
the Union. The EU has previously avoided talking of a specific date for
entry or whether enlargement will occur by individual countries or as a
group. Delegates debated how power will be divided in the new Union:
according to population size or "one commissioner for one country."
Perhaps the most pressing issue of the day, however, was whether or not
the EU is having second thoughts about enlargement in general. A
timeline on European Union development accompanies this piece.
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FEATURE: A Less Than Cozy Christmas
by Nonna Chernyakova
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=6&NrSection=2&NrArticle=463
When winter temperatures start to drop, keeping warm in Russia's Far
East means being remarkably resourceful--stuffing old pillow cases or
clothing into empty cans, soaking them in vegetable oil, and lighting
them on fire to make a miniature heater or cooking stove, for example.
It means wearing outdoor clothing inside and whole families huddling
together in one room. Sometimes it even means freezing to death.
FEATURE: Those Pesky Polls
by Gabriel Sipos
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=6&NrSection=2&NrArticle=458
Slovak political parties haven't yet learned to take opinion polls
seriously. Slovakia's recent referendum on early elections initiated by
the opposition parties has pushed public opinion polls back into the
spotlight. Most political parties continue to neglect public opinion
regarding political and economic issues. This is folly, analysts say, as
polling not only keeps political parties in touch with their electorate
but can also be a useful tool to help sell painful economic reforms to a
nervous public.
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OUR TAKE: Mixed Signals
Chernobyl was always much more than a power station. The name entered
the lexicon and consciousness of Westerners as a stark symbol of the
utter decay and incompetence of the rotting Soviet system. For Soviet
citizens it was that and more. It also showed that their government was
no longer prepared--after the initial fiasco of blunders and
cover-ups--to lie to them anymore. Or at least, in the Glasnost-era,
governments could no longer get away with it.
On 15 December, Chernobyl will finally shut down. In recent weeks, the
power station has been teetering on the edge: Faulty power lines and
some leaking steam caused a few raised pulses. Decommissioning is a
lengthy process, and if things go according to plan, it will be finished
in 2008.
Eastern Europe is dogged by pariah power stations that experts have said
are unsafe and should be closed down. Most are politically sensitive. In
the Czech Republic, Temelin--a hybrid of Soviet-era reactors and modern
Western control systems--has caused relations with Austria to frost
over, with the latter even hinting that it would block the Czechs'
accession to the European Union if the plant isn't closed down. The
Bulgarians have come under plenty of pressure from the EU to shut down
Kozloduy, the country's only nuclear power plant. Bulgaria began its
accession negotiations in 1999 with the EU after signing off on a
memorandum that set a firm timetable for the plant's closure.
The West has sent conflicting signals to governments in the former
Soviet bloc. In 1992, in Munich--with the wafts of radiation-polluted
air over Scandinavia a not-so-distant memory and the influence of
anti-nuclear stalwarts like Austria--the G7 states agreed to close down
the most dangerous reactors in the region "as quickly as possible." The
newly formed European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was
given the task of funding the decommissioning. The EBRD's Nuclear Safety
Account (NSA) was meant to give small amounts of cash to patch up ailing
reactors in exchange for promises to close down the plants.
But the EBRD has done more to prolong the lives of unsafe power stations
in the region--not exactly its mandate. Critics of the NSA say that the
bank has been acting in the interests of Western companies who are
providing the technology for the repair jobs. Companies like the U.S.
giant Westinghouse, which provides Temelin's Instrument and Control
systems, the technology that most safety experts agree is missing from
aging Soviet-era reactors. Anthony Froggart, a London-based nuclear
power analyst, once said the dilemma was that "if you invest in the
facilities, these countries turn around and say they are safe and won't
close them down."
Those working in the energy sector in the former Soviet bloc sometimes
hardly know whether they're coming or going. Volodymyr Korovkin, the
director of a nuclear power plant in Ukraine close to Chernobyl, told
Reuters "I don't understand why we had to rebuild the station after its
explosion in 1986, only to shut it down in 2000."
The region's energy solution is far from simple. Closing nuclear power
plants--that provide cheap electricity and generate jobs--is an
unpopular and expensive choice. A 1992 G7 summit said that between
$18-$24 billion was needed to either upgrade existing plants or replace
them with alternative energy sources.
Moreover, Eastern Europeans are naturally defensive of their technology
and proud of its durability. Nuclear power stations are a source of
pride in many countries (in Bulgaria 80 percent of the population
support Kozloduy despite the fact that the U.S. Department of Energy
said it was one of the unsafest in the world). And in a region where
bigger countries like Russia regularly punish their debtors and energy
dependents by pulling the plug on their power, energy autonomy is a
serious concern for most governments.
But as the case of Bulgaria proved, a good deal of pressure from the EU
can force governments to make unpopular decisions. Perhaps Chernobyl's
final breath could provide impetus for an energy blueprint for the
region. Energy experts are still divided over the best energy solutions
for Eastern Europe; feasibility studies and least-cost analyses have
generally followed the industry line. Many have accused the EBRD of
using hand-picked independent commissions and massaging the results to
obtain a favorable outcome. What is needed is a more ambitious and
independent commission--perhaps under the guidance of the EU--made up of
environmentalists, alternative energy advocates, and nuclear industry
analysts.
Tackling energy efficiency would be a first step for a new commission.
Like much of Soviet society, waste was a large coefficient in the energy
equation. Historically, in the Soviet bloc, electricity was highly
subsidized to support fuel-guzzling heavy industry. Consumer waste is
still excessively high: Steaming hot rooms with windows open in spring
is still a reality in the region's unreformed bureaucratic offices. Poor
insulation and inefficient domestic heaters are wasting the millions of
kilowatts of energy that rickety nuclear plants are still bothering to
churn out.
And, although it might make less business sense, the EU should firmly
commit to fronting the majority of cash for the shutdowns. If it doesn't
match its ominous words about "the next Chernobyls" with the necessary
cash, then no one in Eastern Europe will listen.
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