For once, France maintains its unwavering support for nuclear power. During a meeting in Brussels, the resigning minister opposed a further increase in renewable energy targets by 2024.
France defends nuclear power as clean energy
France firmly opposes a further increase in renewable energies in Europe. This debate reveals a persistent divide between the energy strategies of the member countries of the European Union. This opposition, led by Agnès Pannier-Runacher, resigning Minister of Ecological and Energy Transition, revolves around the defense of nuclear power, presented as a viable and strategic alternative to the rise of renewables. During the European Energy Council, the minister recalled that the imposition a new objective for the deployment of renewable energies for 2040 could harm the principle of technological neutrality and compromise the energy balance of countries like France.
The major issue lies in the mission letter of the new European Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jørgensen, a strong advocate of renewable energy and critic of nuclear fission. This letter, recently amended, explicitly proposes setting an ambitious new target for renewables, an addition that immediately triggered an outcry on the French side. For Paris, it is essential to guarantee low-carbon, affordable and controllable energy production, which, according to the French authorities, is impossible to achieve by focusing exclusively on renewables.
France, which relies heavily on its nuclear fleet to produce low-carbon electricity, sees this European initiative as a threat to its energy sovereignty. In addition, France highlights the limits of renewable energies, whose production remains dependent on variable and sometimes unpredictable climatic conditions.
A fight against Germany
At the heart of this confrontation, Germany is often singled out. Since its definitive exit from nuclear power, Berlin has focused exclusively on renewable energies to achieve its climate objectives, a strategy that Paris considers insufficient. In 2023, France produced 22.2% renewable energy, a performance slightly higher than that of Germany, with 22%. This figure is used to support the idea that the diversification of the energy mix, including nuclear, is more reliable and more resilient to production fluctuations.
To support its position, France can count on the Nuclear Alliance, a coalition formed in February 2023 bringing together 12 European countries favorable to the use of atomic energy, with 3 other observers. During the last Council, this alliance held a parallel meeting, in the presence of Dan Jørgensen, to reaffirm the central role of nuclear power in a sustainable and balanced energy strategy. This grouping aims to counter countries which are campaigning for a reduction in the use of the atom, perceived by some as a technology of the past.
During the last European Energy Council, France reiterated its very strong commitment to nuclear power. The only way to compensate for the deficits of renewable energies in the production of clean electricity.
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