Brussels, 02/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - In an interview published in El Pais on 30 April, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Margot Wallström, clearly demonstrated her disagreement with her colleague in charge of energy, Loyola de Palacio, who declared last Sunday in Pamplona that I the EU renounced nuclear power, it would be unable to meet its commitments to the Kyoto Protocol (see EUROPE 29-30 April p.12).
Ms Wallström declared that she disagreed with Loyola de Palacio and that citizens should not be compelled to choose between climate change or nuclear because this was not necessary. It was no secret that there were different points of vice on the use of nuclear energy at the Commission, she added. For Ms Wallsröm, the important thing is to emphasise that they could respect the Kyoto commitments without any need to increase reliance on nuclear energy. The declarations of Ms de Palacio were inopportune, she added, explaining that they were still fiercely working towards the ratification of Kyoto and trying to apply emissions trading, therefore they ought not to enter into this kind of debate, which they could have in the long-term future. Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium have decided to phase out nuclear energy, but Ms Wallström pointed out that none of these countries would be closing their reactors down before 2012, the deadline for C02 reductions fixed by the Kyoto Protocol. She also highlighted the need to carry to more research into clean technologies and renewable energies and provide the necessary investment. She agreed that reducing carbon dioxide emissions was not an easy job but that she was convinced that there was still more room for manoeuvre for reaching the Kyoto objectives, promoting energy efficiency and adopting decisive policies in transport, industry and agriculture.
On Tuesday, In the follow-up to this debate, Greenpeace called on the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi and the college of Commissioners to disassociate themselves from Loyola de Palacio' declarations. The ecological organisation declared that the declarations were quite "simply unacceptable" and that the Commission had clearly excluded nuclear power form the list of viable options that would allow the Kyoto objectives to be reached. Greenpeace also points out that the Director General of Transport and Energy, François Lamoureaux had indicated in a letter to the German government that, "member countries are free following their own political orientation to decide, if they generate electricity by nuclear power or not…But de Palacio is continually curtailing this freedom". Michelle Raquet, climate advisor for Greenpeace's European Unit asked, "When will Mrs de Palacio stop taking positions that are opposed to those of the institutions she is supposed to represent as vice-president?"