The EU’s decades-long retreat from nuclear energy was a “strategic mistake,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has admitted, stating the bloc must now rebuild the industry.
Speaking at the Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris on Tuesday, von der Leyen noted that nuclear’s share of EU electricity production has collapsed from one-third in 1990 to just 15% today.
“In retrospect, we see that it was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its back on a reliable and affordable source of low-emission power,” she declared.
Von der Leyen has announced a €200 million ($230 million) guarantee fund to support small modular reactors (SMRs), aiming for operational deployment by 2030. “The nuclear race is on,” she said, claiming that “Europe has everything it needs to lead.”
Her remarks come as the escalating situation in the Middle East spurred by the unprovoked US-Israeli attack on Iran has sent global oil and gas prices surging. Simultaneously, the EU has continued to struggle with the consequences of its decision to sever energy ties with Russia following the Ukraine conflict, as well as its controversial green energy policies.
In Germany, which shuttered its last three nuclear plants in 2023, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has similarly condemned the phase-out a “serious strategic mistake,” noting in January that Berlin now faces “the most expensive energy transition in the entire world.” A recent JPMorgan analysis found that industrial power prices in Germany are now triple those of the US and China.
A Deloitte report commissioned by the European chemical industry also found that 83% of EU competitiveness indicators are stagnating or deteriorating, with the chemical sector alone having lost 20,000 jobs to factory closures.
The EU’s energy policies have repeatedly come under fire from both within and outside the bloc. Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called Brussels’ 2040 climate targets “suicide of the European economy,” while Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has warned that unless the bloc lifts sanctions on Russian energy, it will “deal an extremely deep blow to the European economy.”
Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev noted last week that “Western energy pressure on Russia has failed and is backfiring,” adding that “countries that partnered with Russia on energy made a wise strategic choice.”