The Member States’ ambassadors to the EU, meeting in Coreper I on Friday 13 October, examined the proposals in the working document sent by the Spanish Presidency of the Council, particularly the list of technologies to be included in the regulation (see EUROPE 13270/6).
According to several diplomatic sources, the issue of including nuclear power in the list of eight ‘strategic’ technologies, which has been the subject of debate since the Commission’s initial proposal (see EUROPE 13185/3), was less divisive than expected. Several countries, including Germany, are still firmly opposed to this addition, but the overall trend is towards validating the inclusion of nuclear power on the ‘strategic’ list.
There was also discussion of “sustainable alternative fuels” (SAF), which, according to sources close to the matter, were also approved by the representatives for inclusion in the list of eight ‘strategic’ technologies.
Similarly, the addition of ‘transformative industrial technologies for decarbonisation’ to the list of ‘net zero emission’ technologies received broad support among the EU27.
In this sense, the direction taken by the Member States differs slightly from the latest compromise presented by the Spanish Presidency at the beginning of September (see EUROPE 13247/4).
Although there is still work to be done on technical issues, according to several sources, the Member States hope to adopt their position on the regulation as soon as possible after the vote on the text in parliamentary committee, scheduled for 25 October (see EUROPE 13266/3). (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)