Europe before COP26: an energy mix looking for balance

renewables, nuclear and sovereignty

October 2021 marks a shift within the European Union, its institutions and political parties, around energy production and sovereignty.

In the span of 2 weeks the following events contributed to reorder the European balance:

Oct 11: Ten countries signed an op-ed calling to include nuclear as part of the energy mix necessary to stay within decarbonization goals. The 10 countries: Romania, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary.

Pourquoi les Européens ont besoin de l’énergie nucléaire

Oct 12: Finnish Greens evolved from opposed to neutral on nuclear

Oct 13: France’s EDF unveiled a non-binding offer to Poland to build up to 6 EPR reactors, as part of Poland’s revamped energy strategy

France’s EDF offers to build 4–6 EPR nuclear reactors for Poland

Oct 13: German scientists penned an open letter in Die Welt calling for the incoming government to keep the remaining nuclear plants online

Offener Brief: Liebes Deutschland, bitte lass die Kernkraftwerke am Netz

Oct 15: the ​UK to put nuclear power at heart of net zero emissions strategy

Oct 22: Commission President van der Leyen publicly acknowledged nuclear needs to be part of the energy mix for the entire EU

Where is this leading Europe ?

Will the EU Commission be able to create a peaceful dialogue and balance national and supranational interests ?

This writer will engage in this dialogue with proponents from both sides and endeavor to create the conditions for a respectful, fact-based and solutions-driven debate.

The 2 Questions series continues and will focus on energy and climate, more to come soon !