Growing tensions between Germany and France risk derailing a major EU summit. The reason for the contention is the issue of nuclear power and car sales, Politico reports.
The EU intends to completely ban the sale of polluting vehicles by 2035 to combat greenhouse gas emissions. However, Germany opposed this, taking Italy as an ally. Berlin is pushing to continue using synthetic fuels.
Meanwhile, France is trying to push through the idea of excluding nuclear power from the EU’s “green” energy policy, which in turn irritates Germany. Paris intended to include in the conclusions of the summit of the alliance an argument underlining the importance of nuclear power for the decarbonization of the industry.
France is also stepping up efforts to make nuclear-generated hydrogen more useful in meeting EU renewable energy targets. However, the fact that the European Commission, under pressure from Berlin, downgraded the role of nuclear power under the zero-emissions industry law before its introduction last week, particularly angered Paris.
Earlier it was reported about the start of mass protests in France after authorities decided to pass a pension reform law. It raises the retirement age from 62 to 64.
