Nuclear energy: sharp criticism of the EU’s “green” rating

Several members of the German government reject the EU Commission’s plan to classify power generation from nuclear facilities as sustainable. Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (The Greens) told Funke Media Group newspapers that the plans were “completely wrong”.

The EU Commission’s draft of the so-called classification regulation had previously become known. The rating is a type of rating of sustainable economic activities, which is equivalent to a rating as worth funding and a recommendation to investors. The draft regulation states that under certain conditions, both the construction of new nuclear power plants and new gas infrastructure will be included in the classification.

The federal government feels surprised

“I think it is absolutely wrong that the European Commission intends to include nuclear energy in the EU’s classification of sustainable economic activities,” Lemke emphasized. A form of energy that can lead to “devastating environmental disasters” and leave behind large amounts of highly radioactive hazardous waste that “cannot be sustainable.”

The minister, who is also responsible for nuclear safety, explained that the German government had received the standards from the European Commission last night as a draft for comment. It is extremely difficult for the Commission to refrain from consulting with the public on such a sensitive issue. The environment minister announced that she would study the standards and coordinate with the federal government.

HABC does not see approval from the federal government

Federal Minister for Economics and Climate Protection Robert Habeck (the Greens) is also negative. “We don’t see any approval of the new proposals from the EU Commission,” he said.

“Categorizing nuclear energy for all things as sustainable is a mistake in this highly dangerous technology,” the minister said. “It obscures long-term effects on people and the environment; highly radioactive nuclear waste will contaminate us for centuries. There is also a lack of strict safety standards.”

Habeck said that the EU Commission’s proposals “weaken the good sustainability score”. “From our point of view, he would not have needed this addition to the classification rules.” The draft is now being discussed and evaluated within the federal government.

German Environmental Aid: Green Cover

The nature and consumer organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) has also criticized the EU Commission’s proposal. The organization in Berlin explained that this would allow investments harmful to the environment under a green guise. Member states and the European Parliament must take a clear stand against this designation.

Labeling nuclear power and natural gas as sustainable deprives the classification of any credibility, said Sacha Muller-Kreiner, DUH’s federal general manager. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) would also risk the reputation of the federal government’s climate policy if he agreed.

FFF criticizes federal government for lack of commitment

The anti-nuclear initiative “Radio” and “Fridays for the Future” also criticized the project. This means that the European Union is once again granting a nuclear power concession and doing greenwashing on a large scale, said Yushin Stay, spokesman for Broadcasting. Nuclear power is a high-risk technology and is therefore incompatible with the basic principle of the do no harm classification.

Fridays for Future criticized the federal government for not opposing the declaration of gas and nuclear power as sustainable, and reminded the Traffic Lights Coalition of its commitment to wanting to form a “future coalition.”

The federal government is committed to the gradual phase-out of nuclear weapons

The coalition agreement between the SPD, the Green Party and the Freedom and Development Party says: We are committed to German nuclear abolition. At the beginning of the year three of the remaining six nuclear reactors were closed. at Gundermingen in Bavaria, Bruckdorf in Schleswig-Holstein, and Grohendi in Lower Saxony.