With the eyes of the world watching, French President Emmanuel Macron led an effort, joined by nine other European nations, to call on the European Commission to recognise nuclear power as a low-carbon energy source that should be part of the bloc's decades long transition to climate neutrality.
Making the case for nuclear energy as a "key, affordable, stable and independent energy sources" the writers argue that nuclear energy could protect EU consumers from being "exposed to the volatility of prices."
Nuclear energy accounts for over a quarter of the electricity produced in the European Union, and over 74% for France, which initiated the letter that was signed by Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania.
Over 90% of the EU's natural gas come from foreign importers, with Russia as the main producer. This great dependency has been credited as one of the main factors behind the rise in energy prices as well as supply insecurity.
"Supply tensions will be more and more frequent and we have no choice but to diversify our supply. We should pay attention not to increase our dependency on energy imports from outside Europe."
The signatories urge the Commission to include nuclear energy inside the EU green taxonomy, a technical guidebook that helps governments and investors to identify which projects respect the Paris Agreement and which ones are in breach of its climate goals.
Read more in Euro News' Led by France, 10 EU countries call on Brussels to label nuclear energy as green source, published December 10, 2021.
