opinion parliamentary committee draft, 4 March 2026
On the proposal for a Council regulation establishing the nuclear decommissioning assistance programme of the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania for the period 2028-2034, and repealing Regulation (EU) 2021/101
Document BUDG-PA-785292 · (COM(2025)0476 – C100271/2025 – 2025/0268(NLE))
Committee on Budgets · Rapporteur: Rasmus Nordqvist
AI:In short
The Committee on Budgets gives its budgetary assessment of the proposed Council regulation for the Ignalina nuclear decommissioning assistance programme in Lithuania for 2028-2034, which repeals Regulation (EU) 2021/101. It considers the programme envelope should be increased from EUR 678 000 000, and that sufficient human resources must be available from the outset and throughout the next multiannual financial framework. It stresses that complementarity with other instruments must not weaken expenditure traceability or the budgetary authority's control, and that external assigned revenue must be clearly limited, transparent and scrutinised by Parliament. It submits an amendment replacing the indicative financial envelope with a reference amount of EUR [number from the interim report, in current and 2025 prices].
Position. The Committee on Budgets concludes that the programme envelope should be increased from EUR 678 000 000, that sufficient human resources must be available, and that budgetary control and transparency on external assigned revenue must be ensured; it submits an amendment replacing the indicative financial envelope with a reference amount.
Key points
- The Ignalina programme is meant to help Lithuania address safety challenges of decommissioning a nuclear power plant and to generate knowledge shared with EU member states and third countries.
- The proposed programme continues activities conducted since the early 2000s that are expected to run until 2049.
- Nuclear safety is a public good, and past programmes showed the added value of collecting and disseminating knowledge on nuclear safety and decommissioning.
- The EU's financial and technical contribution to decommissioning Ignalina is enshrined in Lithuania's Accession Treaty as a demonstration of European solidarity.
- The Committee on Budgets considers the programme envelope should be increased from EUR 678 000 000 to fulfil its objectives.
- It considers sufficient human resources must be available from the outset and throughout the entire programming period of the next multiannual financial framework.
- It takes note of suggested complementarity with the Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation and Decommissioning or the Cohesion Fund, but insists this must not harm expenditure traceability or the budgetary authority's prerogatives.
- The budgetary authority should retain full control over how resources are combined across instruments and over each programme's contribution to EU priorities, notably through detailed budgetary nomenclature.
- Use of external assigned revenue under the programme must be clearly circumscribed, fully transparent and subject to effective parliamentary scrutiny.
- Any amendment to provisions on external assigned revenue by the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy should be coordinated with the Committee on Budgets and other committees.
- The proposal for a performance regulation sets a single streamlined list of performance indicators and monitoring and evaluation provisions, some relevant to the Ignalina programme.
- Any change in the programme's architecture, objectives and eligible actions must be reflected in the monitoring provisions under Annex I of the performance regulation during its amendment and negotiation.
Who is affected
- Lithuania: receives EU assistance to address safety challenges of decommissioning the Ignalina nuclear power plant.
- EU member states and third countries: share knowledge generated by the programme for their own decommissioning activities.
- The budgetary authority: must retain full control over combining resources across instruments and over expenditure traceability.
- Participating third countries and other donors: their financial contributions are covered by provisions on external assigned revenue.
Figures and deadlines
Written by AI from the full text · every figure comes from the text · ¶ opens the paragraph · 17 Sept 2026 · Report a problem
Full text
Budgetary assessment 12 paragraphs
for the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on the proposal for a Council regulation establishing the nuclear decommissioning assistance programme of the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania for the period 2028-2034, and repealing Regulation (EU) 2021/101
(COM(2025)0476 – C100271/2025 – 2025/0268(NLE))
The Committee on Budgets has carried out a budgetary assessment of the proposal under Rule 58 of the Rules of Procedure and has reached the following conclusions:
The Committee on Budgets,
A.whereas the nuclear decommissioning assistance programme of the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania (Ignalina programme) is intended to assist Lithuania in addressing the safety challenges associated with the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant, while generating knowledge to be shared with EU Member States and third countries for their own decommissioning activities; whereas the proposed programme is a continuation of activities conducted since the early 2000s that are expected to run until 2049;
B.whereas nuclear safety is a public good, and past programmes have demonstrated the added value of collecting and disseminating knowledge linked to nuclear safety and the decommissioning of nuclear power plants;
C.whereas the EU’s financial and technical contribution to the decommissioning of the Ignalina power plant is enshrined in Lithuania’s Accession Treaty as a demonstration of European solidarity;
1.Considers that the programme envelope should be increased from EUR 678 000 000 to [number from the interim report, in current and 2025 prices] in order to fulfil its objectives;
2.Considers that sufficient human resources must be available from the outset and throughout the entire programming period of the next multiannual financial framework to ensure the effective implementation of the Ignalina programme;
3.Takes note of the suggested complementarity between the Ignalina programme and other programmes, such as the Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation and Decommissioning or the Cohesion Fund; stresses that enhanced complementarity between instruments must not come at the expense of expenditure traceability or the prerogatives of the budgetary authority; insists that the budgetary authority should retain full control over how resources are combined across instruments and over the effective contribution of each programme to EU priorities, notably through detailed budgetary nomenclature;
4.Stresses that the use of external assigned revenue under the Ignalina programme must be clearly circumscribed, fully transparent and subject to effective parliamentary scrutiny; takes note, in that regard, of the provisions relating to financial contributions from any participating third countries and other donors; underlines that, should the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy consider amending the provisions relating to external assigned revenue, this should be done in coordination with the Committee on Budgets and the other committees in order to ensure a consistent approach;
5.Recalls the proposal for a regulation establishing a budget expenditure tracking and performance framework and other horizontal rules for the Union programmes and activities (performance regulation), which establishes a single streamlined list of performance indicators and monitoring and evaluation provisions, some of which are relevant to the Ignalina programme; underlines that any change in the architecture, objectives and eligible actions under the programme will need to be appropriately reflected in the monitoring provisions under Annex I of the performance regulation, as part of the process of amending and negotiating that regulation.
Amendment 6 paragraphs
As part of its budgetary assessment, the Committee on Budgets also submits the following amendments to the proposal:
Amendment 1
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – Paragraph 1
| Text proposed by the Commission | Amendment |
|---|---|
| The indicative financial envelope for the implementation of the Programme for the period from 1 January 2028 to 31 December 2034 is set at EUR 678 000 000 in current prices. | The reference amount for the implementation of the Programme for the period from 1 January 2028 to 31 December 2034 is set at EUR [number from the interim report, in current and 2025 prices]. |
Or. en