The EU Commission needs to be given a veto to stop member states’ nuclear power shutdowns that harm other members of the Union. Such legislation could have stopped the closures of the Greens in the last ten years.
The reactor shutdowns in Germany and Sweden since 2005 correspond to an annual reduction in electricity production as large as the entire Swedish electricity consumption (approx. 170 TWh/year). All of Europe would have been in much better shape to withstand Putin’s energy war if those reactors were still running. In addition, it has been a disaster for the climate.
– There are no excuses for countries to shut down fully functioning nuclear power. It makes us more vulnerable, raises electricity prices and moves Europe further away from the climate goals. It is time to stop the nuclear power shutdowns, says Liberal party leader Johan Pehrson.
Across the Union, there are parties going to the polls to phase out nuclear power – both Spain and Belgium are planning for shutdowns. What the Green Party was responsible for in Sweden must not happen again. If we have common climate goals, we must also have common policies to reach them, and member states should not be able to deliberately sabotage the EU’s energy market or opportunities to change.
Because the electricity market is so integrated, the result is that the countries that shut down their nuclear power take advantage of neighbors that have kept it. A closure therefore does not only affect the own population.
The Liberals want to design the EU Commission’s powers inspired by the legislation that currently gives the Commission a mandate to act in certain competition matters.
