Commission circulated draft. Gewessler does not rule out legal action. Rejection also from Germany.
The EU Commission wants to classify investments in gas and nuclear power plants as climate-friendly under certain conditions. This emerges from a draft for a legal act by the authority, which became public on New Year’s Day shortly after it was sent to the EU countries. Investments in new nuclear power plants should therefore be classified as green if the systems meet the latest technical standards. Criticism came from Austria and Germany as well as from environmental organizations.
According to the draft, a specific plan for the operation of a disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste must also be submitted by 2050 at the latest. Another condition is that the new nuclear facilities receive a building permit by 2045, as can be seen from the text available to the German Press Agency (dpa).
Investments in new gas-fired power plants should also be able to be classified as green temporarily under strict conditions. For example, it should be relevant how many greenhouse gases are emitted. For plants that are approved after December 31, 2030, according to the proposal, only up to 100 grams of so-called CO2 equivalents per kilowatt hour of energy would be allowed – calculated over the life cycle.
The classification of economic activities by the EU Commission is intended to enable investors to switch their investments to more sustainable technologies and companies and thus make a significant contribution to Europe’s climate neutrality by 2050. However, whether gas and nuclear power should be considered climate-friendly as part of the so-called taxonomy is highly controversial among EU countries. Austria and Germany, for example, are against taking up nuclear power. For countries like France, on the other hand, nuclear energy is a key technology for a carbon-free economy.
Sharp criticism from Gewessler
Sharp criticism came on Saturday from Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens), among others. “Yesterday, the EU Commission took a step towards greenwashing nuclear power and fossil gas in a night and fog action. The time of publication alone shows that the EU Commission itself is obviously not convinced of its decision,” said the Minister in a statement sent to the APA. For Austria, however, it is very clear: “Neither nuclear power nor the burning of fossil natural gas have lost anything in the taxonomy. Because they are harmful to the climate and the environment and destroy the future of our children.”
The draft will be carefully examined in the coming days, and no one will hesitate to take legal action against the planned regulation. “If the Commission really wants to implement these plans, we will sue them. Because nuclear power is a technology of the past, the dangerousness of which for humans and the environment has been clearly documented. It is too expensive and too slow for us to fight the climate crisis help. It has no future, “explained Gewessler. “We want to become climate neutral in Austria by 2040 and in the EU by 2050 – we cannot afford to call fossil natural gas a ‘green investment’.” We will continue to look for allies at EU level to take action against it.
Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) expressed regret. “We have always emphasized that, from our point of view, nuclear power is not a sustainable form of energy and should not be included in the taxonomy regulation. In this respect, we regret this step by the EU Commission to regard nuclear energy as green energy,” the minister said in a reaction. The EU’s approach underlined “that the proposals in the direction of green exemptions from debt rules could lead to more nuclear power being financed. For us this is another reason to reject this proposal,” stressed Brunner. “Anyone who demands more debt for climate protection at European level is opening the door to the expansion of nuclear power. That is not the way Austria wants to go.”
Youth State Secretary Claudia Plakolm (ÖVP) underlined in a statement that atomic energy has already “emphatically demonstrated in the past that it is anything but clean and safe”: “Thousands of people have died from the effects of atomic energy or are suffering severely. We must improve our future with innovation, with renewable energies, instead of indulging in the age-old idea that atomic energy is controllable. “
Germany against it too
Rejection was also expressed by German government representatives. “The EU Commission’s proposals dilute the good label for sustainability,” said Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) on Saturday at the German Press Agency in Berlin. “From our point of view, this amendment to the taxonomy rules would not have been necessary. We do not see any approval of the new proposals of the EU Commission,” said the Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection. “Labeling nuclear energy of all things as sustainable is wrong with this high-risk technology.” This obscures the view of the long-term effects of nuclear waste on people and the environment. Hard security criteria are also not provided. “That is more than worrying,” said Habeck. “In any case, it is questionable whether this greenwashing will even find acceptance on the financial market,” he emphasized. The German government will evaluate the Commission’s draft for its effects.
The German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) made a similar statement. “I think it is absolutely wrong that the European Commission intends to include nuclear power in the EU taxonomy for sustainable economic activities,” she told the newspapers of the Funke media group (online Saturday / print Monday).
Habeck also criticized the proposed inclusion of fossil gas in the so-called taxonomy. “At least the EU Commission is making it very clear here that gas from fossil fuels is only a transition and that it must be replaced by green hydrogen.”
The environmental protection organization WWF Austria also criticized it on Saturday: “Just a few weeks after the COP26 climate conference, the EU Commission is sacrificing its leadership role in climate policy for the interests of the nuclear and gas lobby. This could result in billions of euros flowing into harmful industries and a fatal one Produce a lock-in effect that takes Europe even further away from the 1.5 degree target, “explained Jakob Mayr, WWF expert for sustainable finance, in a press release. The European Commission gave in to pressure from France, Hungary, Poland and others carelessly, thereby damaging the Green Deal considerably. The WWF called on the EU Parliament and the European Council to “resolutely reject this disastrous greenwashing proposal”.
The NGO atomstopp_oberoesterreich emphasized that including nuclear power in the taxonomy regulation represents “an elementary climate policy mistake; nuclear power is not a solution to climate change, but part of the problem”. As a “climate policy control element”, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has “thoroughly destroyed the taxonomy, ie the catalog of criteria that defines future-proof investments,” said Gabriele Schweiger and Roland Egger from atomstopp_oberoesterreich.
“Atomic New Years Baby”
“This atomic New Year’s baby was to be feared – in the hope that the draft might get lost in the New Year celebrations, the EU Commission published the draft of the sustainability taxonomy yesterday shortly before midnight,” criticized Patricia Lorenz, atomic spokeswoman for GLOBAL 2000. “As a precautionary measure, the public was completely excluded from the consultations it was entitled to; only the European Parliament and the member states can now have a say. We therefore call on the member states to prevent attempted greenwashing of nuclear energy.”
The EU member states now have until January 12 to comment on the draft of the legal act sent by the EU Commission late on Friday evening. According to information on Saturday, implementation can only be prevented if a so-called strengthened qualified majority of the member states or a majority in the EU Parliament speaks out against it. Accordingly, at least 20 EU countries would have to come together in the Council of the EU, representing at least 65 percent of the total population of the EU or at least 353 members in the EU Parliament.
That this will happen is considered unlikely, since, besides Austria and Germany, only countries such as Luxembourg, Denmark and Portugal are clearly against taking up nuclear power. Habeck announced on Saturday: “We do not see any approval of the EU Commission’s new proposals.” There was no mention of any engagement against the Commission proposal.
(APA/dpa)