Gone are the days when Berlin's anti-nuclear stance set the tone: in the past two years atomic pioneer France has been decisive in crafting friendlier regulation, and putting nuclear back on the EU's agenda.
By early 2023, France was spearheading the launch of a"nuclear alliance" of a dozen EU members including Poland, Bulgaria, Finland and the Netherlands, with a view to weighing on policy.With notable successes so far: last June, Paris secured a change to EU renewable energy rules to recognise nuclear power as a way to produce low-carbon hydrogen.
Massimo Garribba, deputy director general at the European Commission's energy department, told a conference Monday he had seen a"change of attitude" among EU members these past 18 months."They have become much more outspoken," he said,"but also they have been working together to try and set up an agenda."
The alliance wants that equality to apply to European Investment Bank financing, to the"Hydrogen Bank" funding instrument set up to boost sustainable hydrogen, and to any revisions of EU rules on renewables.