The European Union is running out of time to break a stalemate between France and Germany about nuclear’s place in overhauling the region’s electricity market, with only a few days to spare before energy ministers meet.
Spain, which holds the bloc’s rotating presidency, floated its latest attempt at a compromise for the two countries, which disagree over how much France should be able to subsidize the extension of its reactor fleet.
The latest draft seen by Bloomberg omits rules that govern a prolongation using contracts for difference, a tool to spur investments in renewable energies. Germany is concerned such a change could remove any restrictions on France’s ability to extend the life of state-owned Electricite de France SA’s reactors anyway, undercutting power prices across the bloc.
Nuclear’s role in the energy transition has become a wedge between the EU’s two industrial heavyweights — with France seeing the source as vital to meeting net zero goals, while Germany closed its last reactors earlier this year.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed the issue in Hamburg earlier this week and said their governments aim to finalize a deal this month.
Energy ministers from the EU’s 27 member states will meet in Luxembourg on Tuesday in a bid to reach a compromise. Any deal needs to be negotiated with the European Parliament and finalized before next year’s elections.
Spain’s latest compromise also reopens the issue of whether Poland’s coal-fired plants can receive subsidies to provide backup power during the transition. Germany opposes such a move.
