Expert accuses Russia of blackmailing Europe over gas trade
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Speaking to the leader of the European Council, Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has pleaded the case for both nuclear energy and natural gas as a means of supporting the EU’s transitions to net zero. Nuclear power has widely been touted as an affordable, low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels but the energy source faces staunch opposition within the EU’s upper ranks. Mr Iohannis has called on the bloc to include nuclear and gas in the EU’s green taxonomy, which outlines activities that can be considered environmentally sustainable.
Europe has been caught in the grips of a devastating energy crunch in recent months, with EU leaders scrambling to find a way out of the crisis.
Caused by a post-pandemic surge in energy use, suppliers have been unable to meet the demand, causing prices of gas and electricity to reach record highs.
The situation was further compounded by the EU’s unhealthy reliance on Russia for natural gas – a dependence many fear is being exploited by President Vladimir Putin.
In particular, Russia was accused of limiting the flow of gas into Europe to push through the certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 project.
If approved the pipeline will pump Russian gas directly to Germany, bypassing both Poland and Ukraine in the Baltic Sea.
However, despite implementing a range of short- and medium-term fixes, the EU has so far been unable to agree on any policy change or energy market reforms.
This has led to a splintering within the EU with French President Emmanuel Macron breaking ranks from long-time ally, Germany.
Mr Macron together with Mr Iohannis and the leaders of eight other nations have urged the European Commission to reconsider its stance on nuclear energy.
Energy prices soar and EU poses 'joint gas purchase'
In an open letter published earlier in October, the 10 member states called nuclear an “affordable, stable and independent” source of energy.
It was signed by the leaders of France, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Mr Macron said: “We must rebuild a framework to ensure the productive independence of France and Europe.”
The issue of nuclear energy surfaced once again during the first international visit of Germany’s newly-minted Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
Mr Scholz met with the French President in Paris to discuss the future of European cooperation but when probed by reporters about the role of nuclear energy in tackling climate change, he refused to give a straight answer.
He said: “Each country pursues its own strategy to fight man-made climate change.
“What unites us is that we recognise that responsibility and are ambitious.”
Germany has broken away from nuclear power under the leadership of former chancellor Angela Merkel and is well on its way to completely phasing nuclear out of the power grid.
In the aftermath of the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, Germany has accelerated its efforts to switch to other sources of energy.
Ms Merkel Germany’s complete withdrawal from nuclear energy and said all plants would be closed by 2022.
As of 2017, less than 12 percent of the country’s energy was being produced by nuclear power.
In stark contrast, nuclear power is the biggest source of electricity in France, accounting for about 70 percent of the total output – the highest percentage anywhere in the world.
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