EU approves senior policy team including nuclear energy skeptics

European Parliament committees have approved the appointment of officials to propose EU legislation on industry and energy policy for the next five years, with pro-nuclear power candidates not given a leading role in developing European Union energy policy.

Incoming competition and energy commissioners Teresa Ribera Rodríguez and Dan Jørgensen have previously opposed plans to develop nuclear energy in Europe or to label it as a clean energy source.

The full European Parliament has to approve or reject the list of commissioners, which were proposed by the European Commission Sept. 17.

A final decision was delayed by a week to give Parliament's three largest groups time to agree on their position, particularly regarding Ribera, who faced difficult questions about the Spanish government's response to extreme flooding.

Ribera will now take on the position of executive vice-president for clean, just and competitive transition. Commissioner job titles have changed from the 2019 to 2024 period, but the new role essentially makes her competition commissioner and one of the most senior officials drafting policy for industry in the EU.

Since 2018 Ribera has been the Spanish government minister for the ecological transition. She oversaw and supported a decision to close all Spanish reactors by 2035 and called an EU decision to label nuclear power "sustainable" under a sustainable investment taxonomy a mistake. The taxonomy is a set of voluntary guidelines to help companies identify clean power projects in EU countries.

Ribera, like incoming industry commissioner Stéphane Séjourné, the executive vice-president for prosperity and industrial strategy, made no mention of nuclear or the EU power mix during her parliamentary hearings Nov. 12.

Séjourné said his focus would be on lowering energy prices, as well as developing markets for electric vehicles and heat pumps.

Like Ribera, incoming energy commissioner Jørgensen, whose official job title will be Commissioner for Energy and Housing, opposed including nuclear energy in the sustainable taxonomy during his time as Danish climate minister.

His "mission statement" from Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen Sept. 17 asked Jørgensen to "support the acceleration of the development and deployment of Small Modular Reactors in Europe during the 2030s, building on the European Industrial Alliance of Small Modular Reactors...[and] continue ensuring nuclear safety and safeguards."

During his hearing in the European Parliament Nov. 5, he said nuclear energy will be needed to meet EU climate goals but that decisions on whether or not to invest should be taken at national, not EU level.

His priorities as set by Von der Leyen are to bring down energy prices for households and companies, and "notably focus on boosting renewables... while ensuring technological neutrality." The commission president asked him to work "under the guidance of" Ribera.

Incoming Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth Wopke Hoekstra, also favored making renewable energy an EU priority while leaving nuclear power investments up to national governments.

At COP29 climate talks Nov. 12, he reaffirmed EU support for "tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030."

Hoekstra had stated his position on nuclear power at a parliamentary hearing 3 Oct., 2023, saying "like scientists, I think that we cannot afford to exclude knowledge and nuclear energy at this point in time. But it is up to the member states."

Hoekstra became interim climate commissioner in 2023, following the departure of Frans Timmermans, who was strongly opposed to nuclear energy, calling it a "massively expensive" and "irrational" investment and encouraging countries to invest instead in solar or wind power.

Waning EU interest

Industry group NuclearEurope said in a statement Nov. 12 it was "pleased" to see energy commissioner Jørgensen "recognize the fact that EU targets cannot be reached without nuclear. Nevertheless, we are disappointed to hear him say that he does not support the use of EU money for nuclear power plants."

Von der Leyen, outgoing European internal market commissioner Thierry Breton, and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, in March said there should be discussions with the European Investment Bank about EIB funding being used for new nuclear power infrastructure. EIB energy funds are currently allocated to renewables and energy efficiency projects, although the bank has funded nuclear decommissioning.

Expectations of a more nuclear friendly group of commissioners had been boosted by European Parliament elections in June which saw the Green party win just 53 of 720 seats, and a greater role given to center-right groups that are in favor of developing nuclear energy.

Breton said in September that Von der Leyen asked him to withdraw his candidacy for a new term at the commission. Breton and the commission president had on several occasions publicly disagreed about the direction of EU policy, including around the French politician's vocal support for nuclear energy.

The request for his resignation was "further testimony to questionable governance," Breton said in his resignation letter Sept. 16. If he resigned, he said Von der Leyen would give France an "allegedly more influential portfolio," the industrial strategy dossier given to Séjourné.

Jozef Síkela, a Czech former trade and industry minister who has argued for the development of nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic, was widely expected to be offered the role of energy commissioner. He has instead been put in charge of international partnerships.