In the wake of the Energy Council, the European Parliament’s Nuclear Energy Focus Group met on Wednesday 16 October, ahead of the hearings of the European Commissioners-designate, to reaffirm its desire to see nuclear energy included in the EU’s decarbonisation agenda.
Set up in 2021 by French MEP Christophe Grudler (Renew Europe), the group, made up of MEPs from different political families and Member States, has appointed its new bureau.
Mr Grudler, the president, is accompanied by the vice-presidents, François-Xavier Bellamy (EPP, French), Tsvetelina Penkova (S&D, Bulgarian), Ľubica Karvašová (Renew Europe, Slovak), Alexandr Vondra (ECR, Czech), Tomas Tobé (EPP, Swedish) and Assita Kanko (ECR, Belgian).
In a statement, the focus group welcomes the communiqué adopted by the member countries of the Nuclear Alliance, who met on the sidelines of the Energy Council to call for a genuine European strategy for nuclear energy (see EUROPE 13504/13).
In the run-up to the parliamentary hearings (see EUROPE 13485/10), the group wished to highlight the recent statements by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, supporting the principle of technological neutrality and the role of nuclear energy in European action (see EUROPE 13472/9).
“While these remarks marked a turning point, it is now time to turn them into concrete actions”, said the focus group in a press release, calling for “decisive measures” in the first months of the new Commission.
Specifically, the group is calling for a comprehensive action plan for nuclear energy, including an update of the Nuclear Illustrative Programme (PINC) and access to public funding programmes for nuclear projects, infrastructure, components and the fuel cycle.
It also stresses the need to ensure the success of the Small Modular Reactor Alliance (SMR Alliance) (see EUROPE 13503/15) and to support the entire nuclear ecosystem, including the development of skills, research and innovation.
Finally, the members are calling for “fair treatment of low-carbon hydrogen produced from nuclear energy” in the delegated act defining low-carbon hydrogen (see EUROPE 13492/14). (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)