The Delegated Act accepted both nuclear and natural gas activities within the EU green taxonomy subject to several provisions (Table 3). The rationale for their inclusion was that gas is far less carbon intensive than coal (which it generally replaces), while nuclear is carbon neutral and plays an important role in providing a stable baseload energy supply.
The decision has driven various responses and suffered criticism as overly political. France was a big proponent of including nuclear energy (given it generates 70% of its electricity), while Germany has pushed for the inclusion of gas. By contrast, Austria and Luxembourg (both have Green Party members in their governments) have been outspokenly critical of the situation and threatened to challenge it in the EU courts. Environmental activists more generally have disparaged it as lowering climate standards.