EU’s most powerful members squabble over subsidies – Bloomberg

France and Germany have failed to find a compromise over the amount of government funding that should be allocated to extending the life of nuclear reactors, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, ahead of a meeting of EU energy ministers in Luxembourg.

The dispute over how to use state-backed two-way CFDs [contracts for differences] for nuclear risks is stalling the region’s green agenda, as the chances of a deal that would scale up renewable power rests on agreement between the two nations.

So far, Germany has completely phased out nuclear energy, while France is heavily dependent on its aging atomic power plants for generating electricity. Last year, nuclear energy accounted for 63% of France’s total electricity production.

Paris has claimed that some EU member states are trying to diminish the role of nuclear power during the transition.

“What some are trying to do is to structurally degrade the competitiveness of nuclear power to the benefit of renewables,” Agnes Pannier-Runacher, France’s energy transition minister said, as cited by Bloomberg. “We can’t end up with a zero-sum game”

Meanwhile, Germany has raised concerns that France could use the latest proposal to overhaul the bloc’s power market to unfairly benefit its nuclear sector and undercut prices across the region.

“The result for me is very disappointing,” Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck said. “If we can’t agree on a level playing field for existing installations, then Germany can’t vote for this proposal.”

Time is running out for the two economic powerhouses to resolve their spat over the issue, as a deadline to complete the task before next year’s EU parliamentary elections is rapidly approaching.

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