nuclear-news

Nuclear power eliminated from European Commission’s text on funding rules, amid heated disagreements between Europe’s nations.

European commissioners are at odds with each other over including nuclear
power in new funding rules aimed at boosting green industries in the EU
just 48 hours before the legislation is due to be announced. Nuclear
fission was included as a “strategic net zero industry” in an early
draft of the law, meaning atomic power plants could be in line for
fast-tracked permitting, preference in public procurement contracts and
fiscal incentives to boost investment.

But the technology has since been eliminated from the text amid heated discussions that have exposed
ideological divides along national lines within the 27-strong college of
commissioners.

Promoters of nuclear included the European Commission’s
president, Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen, and France’s Thierry Breton, the
internal market commissioner, along with eight others largely from central
and eastern Europe, according to people familiar with the talks.

In the opposite camp were Frans Timmermans, the EU’s climate commissioner and
former Dutch foreign minister, and Denmark’s Margrethe Vestager, the bloc’s
competition chief, as well as four other commissioners from southern and
central Europe. Among the other opponents of the inclusion of nuclear in
the proposals are Austria’s Johannes Hahn, the EU budget commissioner, and
Portugal’s Elisa Ferreira, commissioner for cohesion and reforms, according
to two people with knowledge of their views.

FT 14th March 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/65ad412f-3700-4c5a-8efe-2a4c8c6d6341

March 17, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, politics international