"If climate friendliness and energy security are to be delivered, the plenary of the European Parliament would be well advised not to carry the vote taken in the Committees," said Alexandr Vondra, environmental spokesman for the ECR Group, after the joint Economic and Environmental Committees adopted an objection to the EU Commission’s Taxonomy Complementary Delegated Act which classifies nuclear power and – in transitional categories – gas as sustainable. The European Parliament will vote again in July.

“Nuclear power is the only way to quickly make the transition to climate neutrality in Europe. Therefore, it should not be disadvantaged in financial support. In the given transition period, we will also still need gas-fired power plants. That is why the same should apply to them. We have to be careful because the final decision will also send a strong signal to the financial markets”, Vondra said.

“If the situation is this serious, you also have to take stock of reality for once and rethink your priorities. Climate neutrality and energy security are simply not realistic with solar and wind in such a densely populated Europe. A decision to discourage investment in nuclear will expose us to a whole new set of uncertainties and dependencies”, Vondra added.