Enlarge image
Nuclear power station in the Ardennes
Photo: Hocquart C / Andia.fr / IMAGO
It was a short but spectacular meeting: on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after 12 noon, the majority of the members of the Environment and Economic Committee spoke out against the inclusion of gas and nuclear power in the so-called taxonomy.
They voted against the EU Commission's proposal that investments in gas and nuclear power should be considered sustainable in the future.
At the beginning of the year, the EU Commission proposed including gas and nuclear power in the so-called taxonomy regulation, which is intended to boost billions in investment in »green« energies.
With the taxonomy, financial flows are intended to flow specifically into sustainable technologies.
According to this, funds from investors could be labeled as "green" if they flow into the construction of new nuclear power plants or new gas-fired power plants.
However, the two committees passed a resolution opposing the green label for gas and nuclear by a majority of 76 votes to 62.
The Greens in the European Parliament spoke of a "strong signal for Europe's energy transition".
They've been fighting the ordinance for months.
But some social democrats and even conservative MPs had also opposed the proposal.
However, the vote really only has a signal effect - and has no further effects for the time being.
The full Parliament is expected to vote on the resolution in early July.
At least half of the more than 700 parliamentarians there have to vote against the Commission's proposal.
However, if Parliament rejects the regulation, it will not come into force.
France lobbies for green nuclear power plants
While the federal government supported the proposal a few months ago, it is now against it.
The SPD in particular initially advocated the inclusion of natural gas in the taxonomy.
France is likely to benefit most from the regulation.
The country has an aging nuclear power park totaling 56 reactors.
Their modernization is expensive.
This is one of the reasons why France is fighting so hard to have nuclear power classified as a "green" technology.
The French EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told the newspaper "Journal du dimanche" in January: "Investments of 50 billion euros will be required by 2030 for the existing nuclear power plants alone.
And 500 billion are needed for the new generation.« In order to get this money, it was »crucial«, Breton continued, to classify nuclear power as a sustainable form of energy.
sug