S&D Euro MPs today warned that it would be nonsense to put money from the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) into the nuclear energy sector.
"Such a plan would be in breach with the spirit of EFSI. The Commission and the European Investment Bank need to honour what was agreed in the Regulation," reacted the S&Ds in response to press reports.
S&D Euro MP and one of the European Parliament's key rapporteurs, Udo Bullmann, stated:
"Ailing infrastructure, slow internet connections or an inappropriate energy supply - these are the challenges that Europe faces today and the ones we wanted to tackle in the set-up of the EFSI. Thanks to the European Parliament, only investments in the future and not in the past will be possible through EFSI.
"The European Commission seems to have a poor memory. During the negotiations, the member states could not abscond fast enough when asked to contribute money for the new vehicle. Now that the European Parliament has found alternative sources of financing, such as a rededication of EU budget money, the Commission wants to offer this money to the member states for highly disputed investments in the past. We will not support this."
S&D Group vice-president responsible for sustainable development and EFSI rapporteur in ITRE, Kathleen van Brempt, added:
"The EFSI is supposed to trigger innovative sustainable investments that help to reshape Europe and create, amongst others, the energy landscape of the future. Nuclear energy is not the energy of the future, it is a costly, dirty and dangerous fuel from the past - dirty business as usual - and should not get EFSI support.
"By initiating EFSI support for nuclear energy, the Commission is breaking its promise to the European Parliament. We agreed that EFSI needed to be additional, innovative, sustainable and future proof. Nuclear energy does not fit this description. With actions like these, Juncker's presentation of the EFSI as a "game changer" looks less credible every day. Member states and the Parliament need to react and set the record straight and get the EFSI back on track."
