nucleareurope presents European nuclear developments at COP 29 Italian side event
On 16 November 2024, nucleareurope Director General Yves Desbazeille participated in a COP 29 side event organised by the Italian delegation, on the topic of new nuclear in Italy for citizens and businesses. He gave an overview of nuclear policy developments at the EU level, specifically in terms of access to funding and financing.
In his intervention, Yves underlined the fact that the tide is turning for nuclear in Europe, with an increasing number of Member States openly promoting nuclear and a significant number of new projects foreseen, both for large and small reactors. This change in perspective has also been reflected at the European level, and taken on board by the European Commission, with for example the launch of the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs, which aims at accelerating and facilitating the deployment of SMRs in the EU by the early 2030s.
“There have been a number of positive developments for nuclear at the European level” said Yves, “however, there are still some areas where nuclear is not treated on an equal footing with other net-zero technologies, this is especially the case in terms of access to funding and financing”. He stressed that it was essential to make EU funds available for nuclear, citing the Just Transition Fund, the next Multiannual Financial Framework and the European Investment Plan. He added that in the next mandate, nucleareurope will also actively engage in two key policies related to funding and financing: the Clean Energy Investment Plan and the proposal to review the State Aid framework under the Clean Industrial Deal.
Yves concluded his intervention by noting that in order for the EU to reduce its dependence on components and fuels supplies from third countries – an objective mentioned several times by European Commissioner designate for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen – the EU needs to support the development of the supply chain in Europe, for example by facilitating access to EU funds.