BRUSSELS – Two rival alliances of European Union countries held final-hour talks in Brussels on Tuesday, ahead of negotiations on whether to recognize nuclear power under the EU’s renewable energy goals.
The stand-off comes a day before EU countries and lawmakers are supposed to agree tougher EU targets to expand renewable energy by 2030 – a key part of the bloc’s plans to slash CO2 emissions and wean itself off Russian gas.
The negotiations are bogged down in a debate over nuclear energy, with the issue threatening to thwart a deal on one of Europe’s main climate policies. On Tuesday morning, countries were still split.
Eleven countries, led by Austria and including Germany and Spain, on Tuesday met to discuss their push to keep nuclear energy out of the renewable targets. They say mixing nuclear into the renewable energy law would distract from efforts to massively expand wind and solar.
“The group calls for ambitious targets in the [renewable energy law] in order to have a clear mandate for investors and customers,” Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler said.
On the other side of the debate, French energy minister Agní¨s Pannier-Runacher convened a meeting of around 10 pro-nuclear countries including the Czech Republic, Romania and Poland, which are pushing to count “low-carbon hydrogen” – hydrogen produced from nuclear energy – towards the renewable goals.
