The energy ministers of ten European Union Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) signed a joint statement published in the newspaper Les Echos on Monday 4 July, in which they call on the EU to accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy through massive investments in the sector and its inclusion in the EU taxonomy, a classification system aimed at guiding private investments by listing sustainable economic activities on the basis of technical criteria.
“If Europe is to continue implementing its decarbonisation trajectory and at the same time ensure the security of its energy supply, a change of attitude towards nuclear energy is essential”, the letter says.
And the ministers added: “The inclusion of nuclear power in the European taxonomy is vital to combat climate change and increase energy independence.”
The statement comes two days before a vote in the European Parliament on a proposed objection to the Commission’s draft delegated act to include certain fossil gas and nuclear energy activities in the taxonomy as ‘transitional’ activities (see EUROPE 12882/1).
On the same day, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President in charge of the ‘Green Deal’, Frans Timmermans, indirectly criticised the draft delegated act in a debate in the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies.
“If I were alone in the Commission, there are a lot of decisions that would be taken in a different way, also this one”, he replied to a question on his personal perception of the inclusion of gas and nuclear in the taxonomy. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)