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France pushes for nuclear inclusion, while others call for integrated green solutions and grid expansion.
Ministers from Europe had a heated discussion at an EU Council energy summit in Brussels concerning the future of the region's energy system - one that diminishes dependence on Russian fossil fuels, increases production of renewable energy, and answers the role nuclear should play in a decarbonization. France's Ecological Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher called for new EU law accepting the essential clean energy production of nuclear to build on last week's acceptance into the list of green technologies the EU proposes to invest in.
Pannier-Runacher argued that nuclear power should be at the heart of the EU's decarbonization policy and urged the European Commission to reflect its role in future communications and legislative proposals. As part of the EU's target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, she argued for replacing the Renewable Energy Directive with new legislation that bases targets on the "carbon intensity" of energy sources.
Other countries, such as Czechia, Finland, and Italy, echoed the call for a "technology-neutral" energy policy, while Ireland's environment minister Eamon Ryan insisted that it was time to move on from the renewables versus nuclear debate. The ministers largely agreed that cross-border transmission grids need to be reinforced and that rising energy costs threaten European competitiveness.
Belgium's energy minister, Tinne Van Der Straeten, emphasized the need to disconnect renewable electricity prices from fossil fuel prices; meanwhile, the energy minister of Sweden called for further measures in eliminating imports of fossil fuels to Russia. The ministers agreed to widen geothermal deployment by expanding it across Europe in a discussion separate from that, with Hungary urging for an action plan on geothermal energy in Europe to take advantage of this renewable source. The summit ended on electrification as well as sustainability across Europe's energy sector.
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