Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the Prime Minister’s Mansion House speech on 2 March, what assessment they have made of associate membership of EURATOM.

In the Written Ministerial Statement on 11 January 2018, my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy stated that a close and effective association with Euratom will be sought as part of phase 2 of the exit negotiations with the European Union, and set out the UK’s specific objectives in this regard.

The Euratom Treaty does not provide for “associate membership” but does provide the Euratom Community with a number of powers to enter into legally binding agreements with third countries.

The Committee stage debate of the Nuclear Safeguards Bill held on 22 February 2018, (Official Report Vol 789, Col 301) provides the Government’s assessment of the relevant provisions in the Euratom Treaty.