The European Commission said Monday it would need more time to agree plans to label energy from nuclear power and natural gas as "green" investments, amid fierce disagreement.

The proposal by the EU executive aims to support the 27-nation bloc's shift towards a carbon-neutral future and gild its credentials as a global standard-setter for fighting climate change.

Brussels needs to agree which energy sources are clean, to unlock hundreds of billions of euros in private spending and counter "greenwashing" by businesses that falsely promote investments as sustainable.

The commission quietly distributed a text to member states in the final hours of 2021 after the much-delayed document had been twice promised earlier in the year, highlighting the rocky road to draft it.

The EU executive had said it would give itself until January 12 to consult with member states and MEPs on the proposal, but on Monday added that it would need another nine days to complete the process.

Given the recent holiday break, "it's only natural that we provide a bit more time," said EU spokesman Eric Mamer, confirming a tweet by a German official that the new deadline was January 21.

The opinions collected may lead to changes in the text with the final version published by the end of the month.

If a majority of member states fail to oppose it within four months after that, it will become EU law, coming into effect from 2023. The European Parliament can also oppose it within that time with a simple vote.

France has led the charge for nuclear power -- its main energy source -- to be included, despite robust opposition from Austria and from Germany, which is in the process of shutting all its nuclear plants.

Fossil fuel-reliant countries in the EU's east and south have defended the use of natural gas, at least as a transitional source, even though it still produces significant greenhouse emissions.

The commission proposal calls for the building of new nuclear power plants to be conditional on permits given out before 2045, and work to extend the functioning of existing plants would need to be authorised before 2040.

For gas, it said that carbon-emission limits should be set to well below those produced by coal-burning plants, and it should only be a transitionary source with plants needing building permits given before 2031.

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Europe nuclear plants 'need 500 bn euro investment by 2050'
Paris (AFP) Jan 9, 2022
The European Union will need to invest 500 billion euros ($568 billion) in new generation nuclear power stations from now until 2050, the bloc's internal market commissioner said in an interview published at the weekend. "Existing nuclear plants alone will need 50 billion euros of investment from now until 2030. And new generation ones will need 500 billion!" Thierry Breton told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. Breton also argued that an EU plan to label energy from nuclear power and natural g ... read more