Alongside the Energy Council on Monday 16 June, the countries of the Nuclear Alliance met once again to discuss their common priorities, but with one novelty: Germany attended the end of the exchange as an observer.
This presence follows a change of direction in Germany’s energy policy since the formation of the coalition under the new German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz.
It also follows a pledge made with French President Emmanuel Macron to “realign” French and German energy policies and support “all low-carbon energies”, as the two men wrote in a joint op-ed in the French newspaper Le Figaro on 7 May.
Speaking to journalists, the Swedish Energy Minister, Ebba Busch, who chaired the Nuclear Alliance meeting, welcomed the presence of the new German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Katherina Reiche, at the meeting, and said that “we should take the German government at its word and work together where possible”.
However, it is not yet certain whether Germany will attend a future Alliance meeting as an observer.
All the usual countries joined the meeting (see EUROPE 13640/18). It should also be noted that Italy, formerly an observer, has become a full member.
“I think it is a great step forward that we now have a large majority of European Union members who are themselves actively in favour of nuclear power (...)”, enthused Mrs Busch.
PINC. On another topical nuclear issue, the French Energy Minister, Marc Ferracci, alongside the Swedish Minister, praised the work of the European Commission in publishing its eighth Nuclear Illustrative Programme (PINC) on 13 June (see EUROPE 13659/11). In his view, this report is “an extremely encouraging step in the Commission’s perception of nuclear energy”.
A ‘Miscellaneous’ item at the Energy Council concerned precisely this point. The Commission has presented this PINC communication, which still has to be submitted to the European Economic and Social Committee for its opinion, before final publication by the end of the year.
During the discussion, Italy, Romania, Belgium, France, Croatia and Finland took the floor to praise the Commission’s work. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)