Believing that including nuclear and gas in the EU taxonomy amounts to ‘greenwashing’, Austria filed a complaint with the EU Court of Justice on Friday 7 October to have the disputed complementary delegated act (see EUROPE 12991/32) annulled.
“The decision to include nuclear power and gas in the Taxonomy Regulation does not do justice to European efforts for a good and climate-friendly future. (...) It is neither credible, ambitious nor knowledge-based, endangers our future and is more than irresponsible”, Austria’s Minister for Climate Action, Leonore Gewessler, said in a statement.
The Austrian authorities put forward 10 grounds for annulling the complementary delegated act, mainly on the basis of content, but also on the basis of procedure.
On the merits, the delegated act contradicts the ‘do no significant harm’ principle, according to Austria. In its view, the whole life cycle of nuclear energy should be taken into account, including the issue of waste processing and its environmental impact, which is far from resolved.
On the procedure, Vienna is of the opinion that the European Commission has exceeded its competence by not calling on the opinions of the Member States’ experts, contrary to what happened during the adoption of the first delegated act on the EU taxonomy. Beyond the taxonomy issue, the Austrian authorities refer to an infringement of a 2016 interinstitutional agreement. In their view, if the Court validates the procedure that was followed in adopting the complementary delegated act, this will be the death knell for Article 290 TFEU on which the delegated acts are based.
The other Member States that are opposed to nuclear power must wait for the texts to be translated and transmitted to the EU27 before officially joining the challenge. Luxembourg has already announced that it supports Austria’s appeal. Austria also claims there is a strong interest from some capitals in the interpretation of EU law regarding the delegated acts procedure.
The hearing in Luxembourg in this case could take place in several months or even a year. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)