German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier and French Minister for the Environment and Energy Nicolas Hulot agreed in Paris on Thursday 12 July to intensify Franco-German coordination on energy transition and tackling climate change.
Hailing recent agreements on the revised draft directives on energy efficiency and renewable energy, as well as on the 2030 targets in these two areas, Altmaier and Hulot agreed more closely to align the German and French positions on the Community legislative texts on reshaping the electricity market and reducing vehicle emissions.
The two also reiterated their countries’ respective targets for cutting nuclear and coal-fired power plants and their desire speed up the development of potential solutions, such as energy storage and renewable energy deployment, that will encourage energy transition.
The ministers announced their intention to consult one another in the drafting of national energy/climate plans and to discuss how they see the electricity mix developing in order to increase synergies between their planning papers.
Berlin and Paris will also work together on other projects to develop wind power in the North Sea and smart electricity networks, improve electricity interconnections and attract long-term investment to finance energy transition.
Lastly, Germany and France confirmed the closeness of their views on batteries and storage technologies and will work more closely together on hydrogen. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)