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The proposal to label natural gas and nuclear power “green” as a guide for private investors ran into resistance along the way. But EU lawmakers eventually gave it the green light.
The European Parliament voted on Wednesday (06.07) in favor of a proposal regarding the labeling of natural gas and nuclear power plants as climate-friendly investments. The proposal, officially called the “EU Taxonomy”, was published last December by the European Commission as a list of economic activities that investors can label and trade under the “green” logo.
The motion to block this proposal received 278 votes in favor, 328 against and 33 abstentions. If 20 of the 27 EU member states do not oppose the proposal, it will be adopted as law.
A debatable plan
The proposal initially met with resistance among some EU member states, with a camp led by France strongly supporting the “green” label for natural gas and nuclear power. Meanwhile, Germany, which has suspended its nuclear power plant project, opposed the plan.
Some environmental groups and EU lawmakers have also been critical. Austria and Luxembourg have even threatened to sue the EU if the plan is approved. However, the proposal has the support of the majority of the center-right European People’s Party, the largest group of lawmakers in the European Parliament.
Lawmakers from the center group “Renew Europe” were mostly in favor of the proposal, while the Greens and Social Democrats mostly opposed it. A number of 353 legislators, out of 705 in Parliament, are needed to defeat such a plan.
Russia benefits from gas labeling
The drastic reduction of Russian gas supplies to Europe in recent weeks has caused more opposition to the classification of gas as “green”. “This is dirty politics and the insulting result of labeling gas and nuclear energy as “green”, and sending a ‘river’ of money to Putin’s war chest”, says Adriana Rodrigo, Greenpeace lobbyist. “We will take this case to court,” she added.
Paul Tang, a Dutch EU lawmaker with the center-left Social Democrats, criticized the plan, arguing that it has been influenced by the lobby of Gazprom and Rosneft, two Russian energy companies.
Atomic power plant in Isar, Germany
Where does Germany stand in this situation?
Initially, Germany opposed the proposal of the European Commission to label nuclear energy as “green”. On Wednesday (06.07) Steffen Hebestreit, spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said that Berlin “stands by this position and considers nuclear energy to be unsustainable.”
“However, the German government believes that the taxonomy is an important instrument for achieving climate protection objectives, because it is clear that natural gas is an important technology on the path to carbon neutrality,” added Hebestreit./DW
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