Nuclear power in Europe, the next stumbling block for the Franco-German axis?

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, at a press conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, on December 10 in Paris.

AFP - THIBAULT CAMUS

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

2022 will be in Germany the year of the final nuclear phase-out, but paradoxically also perhaps, within the EU, that of a possible classification of investments in nuclear power plants as "sustainable".

This project, which has just been unveiled by Brussels, is being pushed by France.

The announcement did not fail to react in Berlin.

Germany is opposed to classifying nuclear as an EU "green" investment

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With our correspondent in Berlin,

" 

 " is the title chosen by the great Berlin daily

to describe this project for a "green" label for nuclear electricity.

A surprise announcement that is having a hard time getting through in a country engaged in the final stage of its exit from the atom.

Grant a green label to energy that emits few CO2 emissions on the one hand, but on the other produces enormous amounts of waste that cannot be recycled, not to mention the risk of accidents;

German media find it hard to grasp.

Der Plan der # EU-Kommission, #Atomkraft als nachhaltig einzustufen, sorgt für Aufregung.

Auch die Bundesumweltministerin ist skeptisch.

„Wir werden die EU-Vorlage jetzt schnell prüfen und uns in der Bundesregierung abstimmen“, sagte # Lemke.https: //t.co/Fn7EnKlTPU

- Tagesspiegel (@Tagesspiegel) January 3, 2022

A misunderstanding expressed by the ecologist Minister of Economy and Energy.

Also vice-chancellor, Robert Habeck has already threatened not to support the Brussels project.

►Read also: French Presidency of the EU, but an important role to play for Germany

If Olaf Scholz is careful for the moment to directly criticize Emmanuel Macron, many editorialists clearly see the hand of the French president.

But the German government is not spared from criticism.

Forced to bet on gas to compensate for its exit from nuclear power, Germany has pushed for the classification of this fossil fuel, which emits a lot of CO2, as sustainable.

►Read again: With the shutdown of three reactors, Germany is taking another step towards phasing out nuclear power

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