On France’s initiative, countries that are members of the ‘Nuclear Alliance’ will meet ahead of the ‘Energy’ Council on Monday, 4 March (see EUROPE 13356/36), in order to begin a new phase in the recognition of nuclear energy within the EU as the European elections and the renewal of the European Commission approach.
“After years of fighting to put an end to public policies that are out of favour and discriminatory towards nuclear power, we have won several victories in recent months to fully recognise its role in European energy policy”, stated a member of French Minister for the Economy Bruno Le Maire’s cabinet.
He was thus pleased with the agreements reached on the reform of the European electricity market, European taxonomy, and the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) (see EUROPE 13352/20).
“The first phase of recognising nuclear power was a success thanks to [our] collective work [...]. The ministers will now introduce a second phase, which is a positive agenda for the European Commission to develop the nuclear industry in Europe”, he continued.
Indeed, Mr Le Maire will not be alone, as he will be accompanied by Minister Delegate for Industry and Energy Roland Lescure during this first ‘Energy’ Council under the Belgian Presidency. The two men will strive to encourage partnerships and joint projects among EU countries while continuing to promote the principle of “technological neutrality” on the European legislative agenda.
The cabinet thus details the topics that will be discussed with other interested EU countries, such as joint projects for the development of small modular reactors (SMRs), in particular, within the framework of the European alliance for small modular reactors (SMRs) (see EUROPE 13347/5), research and development, fuel fabrication, as well as important projects of common European interest (IPCEI) specific to the nuclear energy sector.
Concurrent with this meeting, countries that are part of the ‘Friends of Renewables’ group (see EUROPE 13317/3) will also gather to discuss their priorities concerning the renewable energy sector. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)