Problems in actions against climate change by the European Union. The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, opposed this Monday that the EU regulation differentiates hydrogen or electricity generated with nuclear energy from that generated with renewables, in the name of European energy independence and decarbonization.
Macron, who considered the differences with Germany on this point, made a plea in favor of nuclear, an energy that France produces more than any other country in the European Union (EU), in a speech on foreign policy before the assembled French ambassadors. . in Paris at their annual conference.
“The priority – he stressed – should not be to divide us over different energy models, but rather to reinforce the integration of the European electricity grid, which is essential”.
He considered that the European Union must have “a clarified energy policy”, that the regulatory bases that have been laid “are good”, but now the instruments must be specified to “be more independent, more decarbonized and create jobs”. That, he said, requires “more renewables, more nuclear and more integration of the electricity market.”
A reform with problems
The reform of the electricity market in the EU has been stuck for months, among other things, on the question of considering nuclear energy. France refuses to allow electricity or hydrogen generated in its atomic power plants to be treated differently from that which comes from renewable sources, contrary to the position of Germany and Spain.
Macron insisted that “more coal is not good for this European agenda” and “a regulatory complexity to know what color hydrogen is when it is low carbon is not good for this agenda.”
“I am in favor of the free movement of low-carbon electrons in Europe” because “the more low-carbon electrons we produce in Europe, the stronger and more independent we will be. It is the strategy we have to carry out.”
Beyond acknowledging that “there is a lot of work” to do to reach an agreement, he repeated that “it would be a historic mistake to deprive ourselves of nuclear (energy) or slow down” investment.
The French president has embarked his country on an extension of the life of nuclear reactors, which now supply around 70% of electricity. In addition, he has launched the construction of at least half a dozen nuclear reactors, which should come online between 2037 and 2050.
