The Commission recalls its views on the radiological aspect of depleted uranium (DU) expressed in its previous reply to the Honourable Members' Written Question E‑2883/07 and emphasises that the use of DU in the context of a military conflict is not a matter within its competences.

The independent scientific opinion of the Group of Experts under Article 31 of the Euratom Treaty⁽¹⁾ requested by the Commission in 2001, following the Balkan conflict, did not ignore the chemical toxicity of uranium, but it was not in their remit to investigate this aspect in more detail, since their expertise relates to the protection against ionizing radiation in accordance with their mandate under Chapter 3 of the Euratom Treaty.

Furthermore, the Commission would like to recall that the organisation of health services, including decisions on measures to be taken with respect to the health of military forces, are in the remit of national health services.

(1) http://ec.europa.eu/energy/nuclear/radioprotection/doc/art31/opinion_en.pdf