WRITTEN QUESTION E-1675/01

by Per-Arne Arvidsson (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 June 2001)

Subject: Nuclear power and climate change

According to the Green Paper on Security of Energy Supply, initiated by the Commission Vice-President Mrs de Palacio, nuclear energy has enabled Europe to avoid the emission of around 300 million tonnes of CO2 per year. The Green Paper forecasts that nuclear capacity in the EU will decrease by about 50 % between 2020-2050 if not replacement capacity is built.

In the light of this information, what energy policy will the Commission promote in order to ensure that the European Union will meet its climate change commitments, as outlined initially in the Kyoto Protocol?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(4 September 2001)

The Community and its Member States, in 1997, agreed in the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 8 % below 1990 levels in the period 2008 to 2012. Nuclear energy has contributed so far significantly to stabilise and reduce Community's greenhouse gas emissions.

Currently, nuclear energy accounts for around 15 % of the Community primary energy supply and 35 % of electricity generated in the Community. According to current analysis, under business as usual conditions and taking into consideration that some Member States with nuclear plants have decided to phase-out nuclear, the contribution of Europe's nuclear power is seen as peaking in about 2010. Some nuclear power plants are projected to reach their operating lifetime over the next two decades. Consequently, nuclear output will decrease unless new nuclear power plants are put into operation or existing installations are upgraded and their lifetime extended. In this context, the Member States deciding to phase out nuclear energy should have assessed their ability for doing so while still attaining their Kyoto objectives and their Community burden-sharing commitments.

The Commission believes that the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed to achieve the Community's Kyoto targets can be achieved through a variety of measures mainly in the tertiary and household sectors, in industry, in transport and in power generation at low to medium cost. The European Climate Change Programme has already indicated a number of options for policies and measures that, if adopted at Community level and fully implemented by all Member States, could meet the Kyoto objective.

In a longer perspective the issues facing us on energy, in particular the environmental dimension, requires serious debate due to the fears about high increase of Carbondioxide (CO2) emissions and the probable requirement for further strengthening of the policy to mitigate them. The Commission's Green Paper Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply(1) makes an important contribution to this open debate about the future fuel mix of Europe's energy balance. The objective of Energy policy is to provide the European industry and the European citizens in the 21st century with secure, competitive and environmentally friendly energy services, facilitating the achievement of the Climate Change commitment.

(1) COM(2000) 769 final.