Monitoring Desk
STOCKHOLM: Eleven European Union (EU) member states on Tuesday vowed to “strengthen the cooperation” on nuclear power, which they hope would help Europe move away from carbon-emitting fossil fuels.
Finland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Romania, and Slovakia agreed “to support new projects” alongside existing nuclear power plants, a statement released during a meeting of the bloc’s energy ministers stated.
“Nuclear energy is one of several tools for achieving our climate goals,” to produce electricity that meets the demand of consumers, and “for the security of supply,” the statement added.
Ministers from the eleven countries also considered the opportunities for enhancing scientific cooperation on nuclear energy and sharing standard practices to address safety issues.
France has spearheaded the effort to build closer European nuclear energy relations.
Before the meeting of energy ministers, the office of Ecological Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said that the main aim of France was to “create a nuclear alliance.”
France believes nuclear energy can help Europe and the country achieve its climate objectives, especially to produce “green” hydrogen for industry and transport.
But the issue has created a rift between Europe, and several European Union states are fiercely opposed, with Spain and Germany leading the criticism.
Opposition to EU ministers’ nuclear energy plan
Germany, Luxembourg, and Austria reaffirmed their opposition in the Stockholm energy ministers meeting to the development of nuclear power in Europe.
“If we intend to win the race against climate change, we have to be fast,” Luxembourg Energy Minister Claude Turmes on Monday said. He added that new nuclear stations would take fifteen years to build.
“It is much more about ideology rather than being practical,” Turmes added.
The EU is currently discussing the reform of the electricity market which has also split the bloc.
France recommends long-term energy contracts at guaranteed prices that would benefit nuclear production, but Germany is vehemently against such a move.
