80 municipalities, jointly with Heuking team, request the help of the European Commission against Tihange nuclear power plant

On Tuesday, June 14, 2016, the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz welcomes 80 high-ranking representatives from the Netherlands, Luxemburg, and Germany. The delegation of mayors, county councilors, and MEPs is led by Helmut Etschberg, Regional Councilor of Aachen City region. On behalf of their citizens, the top officials are opposing the continued operation of Belgian nuclear power plant Tihange 2. According to international experts, there are considerable doubts as to the reactor's safety. Investigations showed several thousand cracks in the reactor pressure vessel. Numerous incidents had recently caused Tihange 2 to be shut down repeatedly. Most recently, the reactor switched off automatically on June 12, 2016 for reasons yet unknown.
 
Aachen City Region and its partners want the EU Commission to examine the nuclear power plant's safety and to take appropriate action under European law. City Region Councilor Etschberg will submit the request to Parliament President Schulz and Commissioner Cañete on behalf of all parties.
 
Lawyers Dr. Ute Jasper and Dr. Laurence Westen from the law firm of Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek legally advise on the procedure. The lawyers are specialists for large public projects. They examined the facts and legal possibilities for action, summarized and presented in several file folders. The view of the federal government to have no legal means to take action against the Belgian reactor is clearly refuted in these documents.
 
Dr. Ute Jasper is one of the best-known lawyers for public procurement and public infrastructure projects. She advises federal and state ministries, municipalities, and companies. Ute Jasper heads Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek’s “Public Sector & Public Procurement” department. As recently as a few days ago, Jasper was recognized by Who´s Who Legal as “one of the very best in Germany” for public projects.