The leaders of the Twenty-Seven began arriving mid-morning in Brussels and are due to discuss Ukraine and ways to strengthen the competitiveness of the European economy until Friday, according to the items officially on the agenda.

As soon as he arrived, Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, an ally of Berlin in the rejection of the atom, defended his position. "Nuclear energy? It is not safe, not fast, not cheap and it is not climate-friendly. With European flags on it, it would be a scam," he said.

A Franco-German bilateral meeting is scheduled for Friday morning as relations between the two European powers have been tense for months.

The context is difficult for French President Emmanuel Macron, who is facing protests in France against his pension reform. But also for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, struggling in the polls and entangled in the divisions of his coalition.

Paris and Berlin clashed last week over the place of nuclear power in a proposal for a regulation of the European Commission on industrial policy.

The France and a dozen states that bet on this technology wanted to obtain the recognition of the atom in the means to support to decarbonize the economy, against the advice of Germany and a handful of anti-nuclear countries.

Eventually, Paris got nuclear power mentioned, snatching a symbolic victory. But, in practice, the sector will benefit from almost none of the advantages provided for by the text, such as the acceleration of project authorization procedures or financing facilities that will benefit renewable energies.

Macron, who is due to arrive in Brussels in the early afternoon, will try to convince his counterparts of the need for broader support. A battle is already looming to redraft the text in the Council that brings together the 27 member states and in the European Parliament.

Another bone of contention is the automobile. Germany shocked its partners in early March by blocking a key text of the EU's climate plan on CO2 emissions from cars that it had already approved.

German U-turn

This text, which will de facto impose 100% electric engines for new vehicles from 2035, was the subject of an agreement in October between Member States and negotiators of the European Parliament, and was formally approved in mid-February by MEPs meeting in plenary.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives for an EU summit in Brussels on March 23, 2023 © Ludovic MARIN / AFP

To justify its about-face, extremely rare at this stage of the procedure, Germany has asked the European Commission to present a proposal paving the way for vehicles running on synthetic fuels, a provision already provided for in the agreement reached last year.

This technology, still under development, would consist of producing fuel oil from CO2 from industrial activities using low-carbon electricity. Defended in particular by high-end German and Italian manufacturers, it would extend the use of combustion engines after 2035.

The EU executive is holding complex talks with Berlin to find a way out. The idea is that it should specify, in a separate text, how the EU will be able to give the green light to synthetic fuels in the future, without calling into question its CO2 reduction targets.

"It is now a question of finding the right way to implement this long-standing promise made by the Commission. And if I understand the discussions correctly, it's on the right track," Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Brussels, assuring that the Commission would submit a proposal.

This technology is strongly contested by environmental NGOs who consider it expensive, energy-consuming and polluting.

The German blockade comes from the liberals of the FDP who seek to surf on the unpopularity of the end of petrol and diesel cars.

Several officials are concerned about a challenge to EU procedures that could derail many texts, including the European climate plan, if other states follow this example.

"The whole European decision-making architecture would collapse if we all acted like this," Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said.

"Most countries say +we have taken this course (of the electric vehicle), let's not change course +," said the head of the Belgian government Alexander De Croo.

"We do not want to go back to the date of 2035," said the Elysee.

© 2023 AFP