Brussels – The following is a joint statement by the European Union and the IAEA after their first Senior Officials Meeting today:

On 25 January 2013 officials of the EU and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) met in Brussels for a first ever Senior Level meeting bringing together officials from the European External Action Service and various EU Commission Services with senior officials from the IAEA to discuss enhanced cooperation between the institutions.

The meeting was co-chaired by Senior Commission and EEAS officials (Acting Deputy Director-General Peter Faross, Directorate-General for Energy; and Managing Director Mara Marinaki, European External Action Service) on the EU side and Assistant Director General for Policy, Mr. Rafael Grossi, on the IAEA side. Other Senior Officials participated from the relevant Directorates General of the Commission, the European External Action Service)  Services and the relevant IAEA Divisions.

The meeting addressed ongoing cooperation and common goals of both institutions in the areas of Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Security, Nuclear Applications, Technical Cooperation, Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Safeguards.

Priorities, areas for future work and possible deepening of collaboration, coordination and enhanced visibility were also discussed, in particular the following issues:

-         Strengthen Nuclear Safety and Security cooperation (finalize a Memorandum of Understanding on Nuclear Safety by summer 2013; contribute to the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety including through the findings of the EU “Stress tests”; enhance cooperation and coordination between the EU CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear ) Centre of Excellence and the IAEA Network of Nuclear Security Support Centres);

-         Expand cooperation in Science, Research and Innovation (including Fusion Technology); Technical Cooperation; Nuclear Applications; and in other relevant areas.

-         Consider joint activities in the field of Human Health (Cancer Therapy, Nutrition), Water Management and Environmental Protection;

-         Enhance project impact.

Participants agreed on next steps, including conducting a next Senior Officials Meeting towards the end 2013, the establishment of ad hoc working groups for follow up and ensuring enhanced visibility of joint activities.

Annex: Fact Sheet on important EU contributions to the IAEA: http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/eucontribution.pdf