The European Union countries reached an agreement yesterday to increase production and investment in green technologies. Among the points that have been agreed upon is the inclusion of nuclear power as strategic under the new zero-emissions industry regulation, legislation that was born as a response to the US Inflation Reduction Act ( IRA, for the acronym in English). Negotiations with the Eurochamber will now begin.
The goal of the rule is to facilitate the deployment of clean technologies and speed up permits and public support for this type of industry, with the idea of ??covering 40% of the needs of the Twenty-seven with clean energies ‘now in 2030. The law was also proposed as a way to deal with the IRA and competition from China. It foresees aid that exceeds 250,000 million euros and a massive investment in green technologies, as well as advancing the energy transition so that the EU is climate neutral from 2050.
“We must place ourselves at the forefront of technologies, and allow us to accelerate our decarbonisation plans (…). It is no longer an option, it is an obligation”, assured the Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, at the first meeting with his counterparts as president of the Council.
The law hopes to facilitate investment in a number of technologies considered strategic, including renewables such as wind or solar, but eventually also that generated by nuclear power plants and synthetic fuels such as hydrogen . The countries began the negotiations divided on the subject, but in the end it was decided to include nuclear energy, a clear bet by France as opposed to the proposal of the European Commission, which did not consider it strategic. Different environmental organizations regretted the decision because they considered that European funds that should go to “truly clean technologies” are “diverted”.
Negotiations with the Eurochamber will begin next week, Hereu said. The minister was “convinced” that an agreement between the institutions will be concluded before the elections to the European Parliament in June. The Eurochamber also voted in favor of including nuclear energy as a strategic technology.