The responsible committees in the EU Parliament have spoken out against the EU Commission’s proposal to define investments in gas and nuclear power as climate-friendly. 76 MEPs voted against the EU authority’s plan on Tuesday, 62 in favor and four abstained, as the EU Parliament announced. However, the final decision will be made in the plenum at the beginning of July. Strong resistance to the Commission’s proposal comes primarily from Austria.
With the so-called taxonomy, the Commission wants to determine which financial investments should be considered climate-friendly in the future in order to channel more money into sustainable technologies and companies. This should make a significant contribution to climate neutrality in Europe by 2050. According to EU calculations, this will require 350 billion euros in private investment every year.
Austria wants to sue
Austria intends to take legal action before the European Court of Justice against this classification by the EU Commission. Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) criticized the EU Commission’s taxonomy decision as a “greenwashing program for nuclear energy and fossil natural gas”. The Commission fulfills “above all the wishes of the nuclear lobby”.
Criticism also rained down from the ranks of Austrian MEPs and environmental organizations. “There is no such thing as a ‘green’ nuclear power and therefore investments in nuclear power must not be given a green thumb,” said ÖVP MEPs Othmar Karas and Alexander Bernhuber, according to the broadcast.
Source: Nachrichten
