France has almost half of its 56 nuclear reactors shut down due to maintenance problems. At the end of last week, only 29 plants were working. Microcracks and corrosion have been detected in the auxiliary pipes, faults that will take time to repair. Adversity for a France that is very proud of its energy autonomy, which just yesterday got the yes from the European Parliament to include nuclear energy and gas in the European green energy taxonomy.
France is importing electricity and is facing a difficult summer, when nuclear power plants slow down their production so as not to damage water flows. Twenty-seven reactors stopped. The French press has not sensationalized this matter. France knows how to dramatize its social problems very well – there is no year without barricades – but it also knows how to protect its strategic interests well. Little joke with France: the new Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, announced yesterday that the State will once again control 100% of Électricité de France (it now controls 83%). France, giving ideas for the next debate on the state of the nation in Spain.
Germany is facing a real nightmare. Energy is no longer cheap, and the trade surplus is disappearing. The two gigantic Nord Stream gas pipelines across the Baltic Sea, without interference from third countries, were the true peace treaty between Germany and Russia. The invasion of Ukraine has broken a great architecture that was promoted by Chancellor Angela Merkel with the enthusiastic support of the Social Democrats. (The link between former Chancellor Gerard Schröder and Gazprom).
The second Nord Stream gas pipeline has not come into operation and the first is about to stop for maintenance works in Russia. The stoppage could be prolonged, hindering the European plan to end the summer with gas reserves at 80%.
Germany is preparing for a very harsh winter, and its economy is at real risk of recession, with the consequent repercussions in the rest of Europe. There are nerves, but nobody burns photos of Merkel in the squares, accusing her of lukewarmness with Russia. In Germany today coal is burned, a lot of coal, with the consent of the Greens.
In Italy they are no better. Italy consumes more than twice as much gas as Spain, since it lacks nuclear power plants and renewable energies are poorly developed. 40% of that gas comes from Russia. The Italian government and its powerful public hydrocarbon company (ENI) have traveled halfway around the world in search of new contracts. The calendars of these are blurred and the prices have not been reported, but the Government of national unity chaired by Mario Draghi has managed to convey a message of calm. There are no melodramas in the press about gas. Giorgia Meloni’s neo-fascists, the only opposition party, have not gone all out. Italy often seems on the brink of chaos, but the tie rods are stronger than they appear.
In London, Boris Johnson is about to fall, pushed by his…
This is the European scene four months after the start of the war in Ukraine. This is the framework in which to place the uniqueness of Spain, a highly polarized country where there are people praying that a devastating recession will arrive in the fall.
