Agency Report –
German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche’s meeting with nuclear-friendly EU countries was an “individual decision” that does not reflect Germany’s position, Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said on Tuesday.
“Germany did not participate; it was an individual decision for my ministerial colleague, who is of course free to do what she wants,” Schneider said in Luxembourg on the sidelines of a meeting with his counterparts from across the European Union.
“We have decided on our nuclear phase-out,” added Schneider, from the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). “It is accepted by society.”
Germany’s nuclear phase-out began in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, with the country’s final power plants being decommissioned in 2023.
Berlin is focusing on renewable energies, and there will be no further approvals of nuclear energy projects, Schneider said.
The country has made so much progress that a large proportion of its energy needs are now covered by renewables, he argued.
The comments came after Reiche – from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc – met her colleagues from pro-nuclear EU states on the fringes of a meeting of EU energy ministers in Luxembourg.
The new German government, which took office last month, has recently struggled to reach a common position on nuclear energy and the question of whether it should be categorized as sustainable at EU level.
In Brussels in late May, Reiche said that all technologies should be considered.
In response, Schneider stated that Germany continued to reject the categorization of nuclear power as sustainable.
