Polish Briefing: Poland will take into account Germany’s initiative against nuclear power

What goes on in Poland on the 22nd of March.

Poland will take into account Germany’s initiative against nuclear power when choosing a partner for the nuclear program

The Ministry of Climate and Environment comments on the initiative of its German counterpart, which announces efforts to denuclearize Europe and block new nuclear projects, such as the Polish one. – As for the Polish Nuclear Power Program, these trends are of course taken into account, but they do not call the fate of the program into question. They can only influence decisions made in its course, e.g. in terms of choosing a partner – assesses the resort in response to BiznesAlert.pl.

– It is difficult to refer to this declaration in detail, because it is quite general – emphasizes the Ministry of Climate and Environment in response to questions from BiznesAlert.pl. The German Ministry of Environment presented a twelve-point program to fight for the decommissioning of nuclear energy, which includes provisions on blocking nuclear financing from EU funds and financial models with the participation of European countries. Poland envisages such a solution in the Polish Nuclear Power Program.

– From the formal point of view, the implementation of German postulates would violate European law on several levels. We have repeatedly argued, and we are not alone in this, that discrimination against nuclear energy in the EU is incompatible with the principle of technological neutrality and energy sovereignty of the Member States. Neither the EU institutions nor any Member State can demand that the chosen decarbonisation path be abandoned, as long as it guarantees the fulfillment of climate obligations. The exclusion of any low-emission energy source violates the freedom to shape the energy mix guaranteed in Art. 194 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which, without the availability of funds available for other sources, becomes only a formal freedom. Moreover, discrimination against nuclear power is in conflict with the provisions of the Euratom Treaty, which states that one of the objectives of the EU is to encourage the development of the nuclear industry in the Member States concerned, in particular by facilitating investment and the construction of nuclear power plants (“basic installations”). This goal results not only from the provisions of the Treaties, but has been repeatedly confirmed in the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union – lists the Ministry of Climate and Environment.

– So far we are talking about public funds. However, Germany’s goal is for nuclear energy to be also excluded from the so-called green taxonomy of the EU, which would mean limiting and ultimately excluding financing of nuclear projects by private financial institutions – warns the Ministry of Climate and Environment.

– It is also worth noting that Germany’s actions are going in a completely opposite direction to global trends, in which we are observing the renaissance of nuclear energy, which will accelerate even more due to the development of the hydrogen production sector. Therefore, further restrictions on nuclear power and the limitation of the possibility of financing it in the EU will only result in a further shift from European suppliers of nuclear technologies to global partnerships. Unfortunately, this will result in a waste of the potential of the European nuclear sector developed over the decades and, more broadly, real losses for the entire EU industry – estimates the ministry.