Eleven member states of the European Union (EU), including France-led Romania, announced on Tuesday the consolidation of their cooperation in the field of nuclear energy to develop “new projects” and emphasized its role in decarbonizing the economy. This is reported by AFP.

“Nuclear energy is one of the many tools that allow us to achieve our goals in the fight against climate change, produce basic energy and guarantee security of supply,” these countries emphasize in the “Joint Declaration” signed on the sidelines of the meeting of EU energy ministers in Stockholm. quoted by News.ro.

11 EU countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary – agree to support “new” nuclear projects based on “innovative technologies” and “operation of existing plants”. “.

The declaration envisages joint educational projects, “opportunities for expanding scientific cooperation” and the exchange of “best practices in (the field of) security.”

RENEWABLE ENERGY, “ADDITIONAL”

“Other countries” that have not signed the Declaration, including Italy and the Baltic states, “have expressed their interest in joining the circle, despite the fact that they are not part of nuclear exploitation,” French Environment Transition Minister Agnes Pannier announced. after the meeting – Runner.

Working groups between the signatories will be established at the next Energy Council scheduled for the end of March.

Paris sees nuclear power, which can also be controlled without carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as a “complement” to renewables to meet Europe’s 2050 carbon neutrality goal.

“The United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, China and Japan see nuclear power as an important means of decarbonizing their economies. We must be equal,” pleaded Agnes Pagnier-Runacher on Monday.

“LOW CARBON HYDROGEN”

The French minister’s office believes the idea is also to “send a strong signal at various European negotiations.”

In mid-February, France won a victory over a proposal by the European Commission (EC) to consider “hydrogen produced from a mix of electricity, including nuclear energy, under certain conditions” as “green”.

France is now advocating for this “low-carbon hydrogen” to be included in a text under negotiation that sets each EU member state’s targets for renewable hydrogen and transport.

Germany and Spain oppose everything.

France, as part of the reform of the European electricity market, foresees long-term contracts with a guaranteed price, including in favor of nuclear energy production, which it refuses.

“SUSTAINABLE, LONG-LASTING AND LOW CARBON”

Poland, which is betting on nuclear power to move away from coal, and the Czech Republic welcomed the draft “union” on Monday, but the term was not included in the “Final Declaration”.

“Renewable energy sources can be unstable. We need stable and sustainable energy with low carbon emissions. We know only one: nuclear,” said the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, Josef Sikela.

At the end of 2021, 11 signatory countries supported the recognition of the “sustainable” nature of nuclear energy in the EU’s “taxonomy”, a green label that allows certain investments to be promoted.

They won in the text adopted in mid-2022.

Sweden, whose current government is pro-nuclear, did not sign the “Declaration” on Tuesday, forced to maintain “neutrality” as the EU’s six-month presidency. (News.ro) (photo: Dreamstime)