The official presentation of the complementary delegated act on the inclusion of fossil gas and nuclear energy in the EU taxonomy may be postponed until next year, according to comments made by the Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton over the weekend of 18-19 December.
“We are going to need another ten days or two weeks for consultations (with EU Member States). I hope that we will be able to present our final proposal by mid-January”, he said in an interview with the German daily Die Welt. These words were confirmed a little later by the Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius. Asked after a meeting of environment ministers (see other news), he said that the adoption of the delegated act should take place next year.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had assured Member States that she would launch “the process related to the delegated act on the taxonomy” by the end of the year, according to Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger after the first day of the European Council on 16-17 December.
Asked about the planned procedure, the Commission’s chief spokesman, Eric Mamer, said, “We will kick start the process when it comes to the taxonomy proposal before the end of the year. That has not changed”.
And the Commission specified, “Before the adoption of a delegated act by the Commission, a few steps have to be followed which include consultation with, for example, Member States and, in this case, the Platform on Sustainable Finance (a stakeholder advisory group set up by the Commission)”.
In his interview with Die Welt, Mr Breton also stated that the delegated act “will include both gas and nuclear”. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)