Petition on nuclear phaseout pointless

In the wake of the nuclear catastrophe in Japan the German and Austrian social democrats want to gather signatures across Europe for a definitive nuclear phaseout. If the petition gathers a million signatures from at least seven member states the EU Commission would have to take a justified stance on the issue. Such an initiative is senseless, writes the left-liberal daily Der Standard: "Right now it will be pretty easy to get a million Europeans to sign a petition against nuclear power plants in Europe, as the Fukushima shock and feelings of insecurity run deep. Nevertheless such a vote will be of no avail at present, because such a pan-EU petition will only be legally feasible in 2012 - and by then the tabloids will have long since moved on to other provocative issues. In addition, the EU Commission is not obliged to pass a law against nuclear power just because a million EU citizens say it should. And a pan-European nuclear phaseout is a protracted affair - with uncertain parameters as far as alternatives go. Developing something like that will take time. A political flash in the pan will be no help at all."

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