Nuclear, what is the EU alliance (which includes 14 countries) and why Italy participated as an observer – Corriere.it

Italy participated as an observer in a meeting of the European nuclear alliance promoted by France. This was learned in Brussels on the sidelines of the ongoing EU Energy Council. According to diplomatic sources, Ambassador Stefano Verrecchia was sent to represent Romeon the instruction of the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin.

Topics addressed at the meeting

The EU nuclear alliance currently has 14 countries, indicated the French Minister of Ecological Transition Agns Pannier-Runacher, upon her arrival at the Energy Council in Brussels, underlining that government representatives met this morning, on the initiative of Paris, together with the European Commission. We have illustrated our common program of work – you explained – which concerns supply chains, innovation, research and development, nuclear safety, waste management, how we can build the independence of certain countries that today are still dependent on Russian supplies and the challenges of funding and expertise for future nuclear projects. Coalition members have called for very regular meetings to make decisions, he added, and that Brussels has highlighted its interest in working on these issues. Today, in Europe we have 25% of electricity produced by nuclear power, specified Pannier-Runacher, the atom allows us to lower the emission of greenhouse gases, has less CO2 than photovoltaic and wind power, and a trump card for Europe in economic and climatic terms.

What is the European nuclear alliance

At the end of February, on the sidelines of the last informal European Council of energy, transport and telecommunications ministers, France, through its minister for energy transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher (a member of Renaissance, the party of President Emmanuel Macron), he invited the states that have a place in European nuclear power – he said -, which will be one of the tools together with renewables to achieve our carbon neutrality objectives. The appeal, in addition to Italy, arrived at Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Finland, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. On that occasion, Mase had reported to Reuters that no Italian representative was expected to be present in Stockholm at meetings that will have nuclear issues as their object. After a month, the Italian position seems to have changed and to be at least more open to discussion and dialogue.

The French objectives and the Italian position

The objective of the European nuclear alliance, declared to the French minister Pannier-Runacher herself, sends out a strong signal in the various European negotiations. Among the countries openly opposed to this source of energy are Germany, Spain and Austria, but for France, nuclear power plants are one of the main forms of energy support. For this reason, Paris believes that, like renewable sources, nuclear power can be one of the pillars on which to build our energy transition. It’s the countries then to decide their own energy mix. Italy’s position on nuclear power is not clear, it is not excluded that in the future it may open up to the nuclear hypothesis. The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini affirmed that investing in the latest generation of clean and safe nuclear power is a social, economic and environmental duty.