France, Germany 'agree to disagree' on nuclear power

France and Germany are  are at odds over nuclear power
France and Germany are are at odds over nuclear power.

Germany and France have "agreed to disagree" on the EU's move to label nuclear energy as green, German Europe Minister Anna Luehrmann said Friday, denying any conflict between the two European giants on the issue.

The European Commission has issued a draft proposal to label , along with , as "green" sources eligible for investment under rules for promoting a carbon-neutral future.

France has led the charge for —its main energy source—to be included on the list, while Germany, which is in the process of shutting all its , remains fiercely opposed to the move.

"We know what the French position is on nuclear power and the French side knows very well what the German position is," Luehrmann told AFP in an interview.

"So we can say we agree to disagree on the issue and then turn to the issues where we want to move forward... from to sustainable investments, to the issue of European strategic sovereignty."

The green energy list, known as the EU's "taxonomy", was meant to have landed before the end of 2021, but deep divisions between member states have held it up.

The European Commission quietly distributed a draft text of its plans on New Year's Eve and said it had started consulting with member states on the proposal.

If a majority of member states back it, it will become EU law, coming into effect from 2023.

France, which gets about 70 percent of its power from nuclear, signed a statement supporting nuclear power with nine other EU states in October, including Poland and the Czech Republic.

'Not the majority'

But Germany's Environment Minister Steffi Lemke has said it would be "absolutely wrong" to include nuclear energy on the list, arguing that atomic power "can lead to devastating environmental catastrophes".

Germany shut down three of its six remaining late last year and will close the others by the end of 2022, following Angela Merkel's timetable for phasing out atomic energy.

"We have made it very clear as the entire federal government that we are against the inclusion of nuclear as a sustainable financial product," Luehrmann said.

"We have to go in a different direction for climate reasons, but also for reasons of political independence, and I see that as an argument against both gas and nuclear energy. Because the uranium has to come from somewhere," she said.

However, Luehrmann conceded that "we also know that we are not the majority in Europe" on the issue.

© 2022 AFP

Citation: France, Germany 'agree to disagree' on nuclear power (2022, January 7) retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://techxplore.com/news/2022-01-france-germany-nuclear-power.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Germany calls nuclear power 'dangerous,' rejects EU plan

4 shares

Feedback to editors