I welcome the changes to the treatment of decommissioning funds in the main text, which was a very important issue.

I also think that the compromise on the decommissioning funds was a very significant achievement.

There are good reasons to be conservative with decommissioning funds collected from ratepayers.

You knew one-and-a-half years ago, through your legal services, that it is not possible under Articles 31 and 32 to have segregated decommissioning funds.

I will limit myself to segregated decommissioning funds.

These two countries have also been able to block access to decommissioning funds, and thus these three companies buy up the other companies.

I particularly welcome the demands that nuclear decommissioning funds be fully subject to EU competition law.

The issue of decommissioning funds is one that has been rightly raised and is of great concern.

We need ring-fencing of the decommissioning funds.

We have seen that cross-subsidies will be prevented, particularly the quite scandalous use of decommissioning funds in the nuclear sector.

Rationalized tax on decommissioning funds.

This was an attempt to remove the decommissioning funds from Mr Monti's competences on competition policy.

Decommissioning must be made as safe as possible, and sound, transparent and supervised management of decommissioning funds is crucial for this.

In your statement you said you would now make sure that under no circumstances could decommissioning funds be redirected as cross-subsidies for the commercial operations of nuclear companies.

Could you confirm that there will be no exceptions whatsoever to that and that under no circumstances can decommissioning funds be used for commercial purposes?

"Obviously, the more money that can be earned on decommissioning funds, the more you have available to do the work - which is a social good," said Mr. Nelson.

Firstly, will the EPP-ED Group support the amendment adopted in committee to make sure that nuclear decommissioning funds cannot be used as a cross-subsidy for electricity operators?

At the same time, nuclear decommissioning funds, which are often collected during the operation of a nuclear power plant, have a possibility to collect interest, making more funds available for final decommission.

Decommissioning options for a retired nuclear plant may be chosen based on availability of decommissioning funds, operation of other reactors at the same site, or availability of waste disposal facilities.

Parliament is also aware that the Commission has made specific legislative proposals intended to provide the Union with common rules on nuclear safety, safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, and decommissioning funds.

We believe that the decommissioning funds, together with the interest they yield, should be applied only to their original purpose, so that the costs must be borne by the form of electricity generation from which they result.

The management of nuclear decommissioning funds should never have been used or misused by the utilities as a form of state aid and as an excuse for going on a buying spree across Europe for other utilities.

There are, of course, historical reasons, not least the attitude of the last Conservative Government in the UK, why it did not come up with decommissioning funds but applied the principle of subsidiarity and applied days at sea.

It is absolutely nonsensical to speak of a level playing field if we allow the EDF to use EUR 30 billion, Eon EUR 12 billion and RWE EUR 10 billion from the decommissioning funds in the market.

In many countries either the funds do not appear sufficient to pay the financial decommissioning, and in other countries the funds are being used for activities other than decommissioning, putting the funds at risk, and distorting competition with parties who do not have nuclear decommissioning funds available.