Member States call on EU to support ALL low-carbon, fossil free energy sources – including nuclear

Brussels, 16 May 2023: 16[1] Member States met today in Paris with Commissioner Kadri Simson to discuss cooperation on nuclear energy, further to the recently established ‘nuclear alliance’ spearheaded by France. In their view, nuclear and renewables together will help Europe achieve its climate goals and ensure security of energy supply. Yves Desbazeille, nucleareurope’s Director General, was invited to attend the meeting in order to provide some key insights into the European nuclear industry.

“This meeting shows that an ever-growing number of Member States recognise that if we want to decarbonise our economy in a sustainable and affordable way, then the EU needs to support the development of both nuclear and renewables”, states Yves Desbazeille. “Too much time has been wasted on pitching one technology against another. Demand for low-carbon electricity is expected to massively increase over the coming years. So, the EU now needs to move forward with pragmatic and technology neutral policies which focus on achieving our goals: decarbonisation, security of supply and affordability”.

According to a statement released after the meeting, the signatories recognise that “nuclear energy provides pilotable capacity and hence significantly secures Europe’s fossil-free electricity supply”. Therefore, they call on the EU to “take into account the contribution of all affordable, reliable, fossil-free and safe energy sources to achieve climate neutrality by 2050”.

The statement notes that nuclear could provide up to 150 GW of electricity capacity by 2050 in the EU. This would bring numerous benefits, including the creation of 300,000 additional, new direct, indirect and induced jobs and an additional 92b€ in GDP.

In terms of next steps, the Member States present have agreed to work on a roadmap, which would include:

• Positioning of nuclear power in the European energy strategy
• Safety and waste management
• Industrialization and sovereignty
• Skills
• Innovation

Click here to download the statement in full.

[1] Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, United Kingdom as invitee and Italy as observer.

About us: nucleareurope is the Brussels-based trade association for the nuclear energy industry in Europe. The membership of nucleareurope is made up of 15 national nuclear associations and through these associations, nucleareurope represents nearly 3,000 European companies working in the industry and supporting around 1,100,000 jobs.

For more information, please contact Jessica Johnson: jessica.johnson@nucleareurope.eu