Strong criticism of statements on nuclear energy
Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has welcomed the package proposed by the EU Commission on the security of energy supply, but at the same time criticised the statements made on nuclear energy. "Despite this reservation, I congratulate the Commission upon this comprehensive proposal. It is another important step towards reaching the EU’s ambitious climate and energy policy targets and strengthening its frontrunner position in this strategic area of the future", Minister Gabriel said.
In its strategy paper the Commission states that the ambitious targets adopted so far will not be sufficient to guarantee the security of energy supply in the European Union for the long term. Under the German presidency the European heads of state and government had decided to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent, to increase the share of renewables to 20 percent and to improve energy efficiency by 20 percent, all by 2020.
Gabriel welcomed the fact that the Commission too had realised that additional measures would be necessary to reduce Europe's dependence on imports of fossil energy sources. He viewed as positive that the Commission had announced the preparation of a "Roadmap towards a 2050 Energy Policy", which charts the way towards zero-carbon electricity supply. "With this, the Commission has sent an important signal: an active EU climate and energy policy requires ambitious targets and a vision today for the decades to come", the Federal Environment Minister stated.
The core of the package contains new proposals by the Commission to increase energy efficiency in order to reach the targets set for 2020. "The Commission has made it unmistakably clear that the measures adopted and envisaged so far will not be sufficient to reach the target. We have been pointing this out for a long time. The Commission is therefore right in announcing a critical review of measures taken so far, to be conducted in spring 2009", Sigmar Gabriel commented. Moreover, the Commission intends to amend the EU Directives on the energy performance of buildings and on energy labelling. It also plans to extend the scope of the Eco-design Directive – which the Federal Environment Ministry has called for for a long time – and to revise the EU’s existing financial policy with a view to the Community’s climate protection goals.
Minister Gabriel expressed his regret that the Commission had not presented an action plan on offshore wind power, as originally announced, but merely drafted a Communication. "The Communication does contain important proposals for this key technology, but an even clearer commitment from the Commission to more rapid expansion would have been important. I very much welcome the idea of a North Sea grid for offshore wind energy and the establishment of a Mediterranean Energy Ring with a particular focus on the Solar Plan adopted in July 2008." He further noted that infrastructural measures, such as grid expansion, optimisation and reinforcement, would have to be advanced even more in the years to come.
Minister Gabriel criticised the proposal by the European Commission to update the Nuclear Illustrative Programme (PINC). "This is a tendentious, one-sided pro-nuclear paper which contains a number of statements that the Federal Government cannot support due to the provisions of the Coalition Agreement. It is striking that the Commission mixes aspects relating to the promotion of nuclear energy with nuclear safety issues, as the separation of these two areas is required by the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS), which is binding under international law."
The Commission places particular emphasis on the necessity of European regulations for the areas of nuclear safety and radioactive waste. "With the seemingly inoffensive call for a 'harmonisation of safety standards’ a competence for nuclear energy is being claimed in order to dismantle alleged investment barriers for the nuclear industry. The regulations are planned to apply not only to existing, but also to new nuclear facilities. The intended harmonisation at the European level therefore serves as a basis for making it easier to construct new nuclear power plants in the EU", Minister Gabriel said. He pointed out, however, that the Directives proposed by the Commission to date would by no means lead to more nuclear safety in the EU. "On the contrary – there is even a danger that material safety standards will be lowered. The requirements that have been put forward so far are so void of content that they could even be met by old Soviet nuclear power plants such as the Chernobyl reactor", the Federal Environment Minister stressed.