The European Union proposal to include nuclear power and gas in a green taxonomy update is meeting stiff resistance from Germany and neighboring countries.
"We have once again clearly expressed our rejection of the inclusion of nuclear energy. It is risky and expensive; new reactor concepts such as mini-reactors also entail similar problems and cannot be classified as sustainable," Germany's Federal Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said in a joint letter to EU officials Saturday.
The EU taxonomy gives EU members a system for classifying financial products to help channel private capital into the green transformation to lower-carbon energy production and the economy overall.
The EU proposed technical criteria to advance that effort and increase transparency in June 2021.
On Dec. 31, the EU proposed expanding the criteria to include nuclear energy and gas. "The first delegated act sets correct, proportionate and strict standards to classify sustainable activities," the ministers said in their letter to EU officials. Based on the German ministries' assessment, "there would have been no need for a second supplementary delegated act," they said.
The ministers also questioned the adequacy of safety requirements in the nuclear power industry and raised the prospect of legal concerns if nuclear energy does not meet existing EU taxonomy regulations.
Including gas in the updated taxonomy would also need more work, said the ministers, along with more details on transitioning to green hydrogen.
Officials in Austria and Luxembourg have also raised objections and the possibility of legal action to stop the proposal from being finalized. Other countries, including France, want to see nuclear power included.
"if the delegated act remains unchanged and the Commission disregards the critical opinions of several member states and also ours, we believe that Germany should reject it," the German ministers said in their letter. The EU Commission is expected to adopt the changes within six months or less, unless a majority of member states oppose it. "The hurdles to stopping the act are therefore high," the German ministers said.