At the EU ‘Competitiveness’ Council on Thursday 22 May (see other news), a number of European ministers who support nuclear energy welcomed the softening of Germany’s position on nuclear power under the new coalition led by Friedrich Merz.
“We have agreed - and I think this is an important step - that technologies that do not emit CO2, that are low in CO2, will be given priority in the taxonomy. We respect the fact that Member States follow their own energy mix”, declared the new German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Katherina Reiche, on her arrival at the EU Council.
“We welcome Germany’s return to a less ideological, more scientific energy policy (....). We already had a majority in this direction. We can go even further with the Germans on board”, said Sweden’s Minister for Energy, Business and Industry, Ebba Busch.
For France, “nuclear power must be treated in the same way as renewable energies”, particularly on the issue of European funding, insisted the French Minister for Industry and Energy, Marc Ferracci. “That’s the position we’re taking, and I do think that there are probably ways forward with the German government, but I’m not going to pre-empt the discussions we’re going to have with them”, he continued.
On the question of financing, the Swedish minister questioned whether nuclear power could be funded separately, or whether it could be under an umbrella of clean technologies, “to combine the aim of tackling emissions, and securing economic growth”.
The Flemish Minister for the Economy, Innovation and Industry, Matthias Diependaele, for his part, stated that the EU budget “should focus on connectivity and interconnections rather than on energy production per se”.
Also asked about this political and financial support for nuclear power, Katherina Reiche stressed the need to promote new technologies, such as small modular reactors (SMRs). “We will make sure every day that our new technologies based on renewable energies will also be eligible in the future; that is our policy”, she said. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys with Léa Marchal)