France unveils proposals for EU energy policy

Finance ministers will discuss, on 24 January, a memorandum on EU energy policy presented by French Finance Minister Thierry Breton. The paper makes wide-ranging proposals to secure European supplies after the Russia-Ukraine gas row highlighted Europe’s dependency on imports.

The paper proposes recognising the contribution of nuclear power to EU security of supply and “contribution to the fight against global warming” as a technology that does not release CO2. It suggests increasing R&D efforts for “future nuclear energy” and invites other countries to join research projects on the fourth generation nuclear reactor.

…Proposals in the paper include:

Oil: increasing transparency in oil markets by regularly publishing European oil stock levels; increasing refining capacity; supporting green chemistry in the petrochemical sector.

EurActiv