Nuclear: France also reaches out to Italy, which politely declines the invitation

“There is no attendance expected no Italian representative tomorrow in Stockholm to meetings that will focus on the nuclear issue”.

The clarification came on the evening of 27 February directly from the Ministry of the Environment and Energy SecurityPichetto Fratin, after various sources, including the agency Reutersthey had quoted also Italy among the countries ready to accept the invitation of the French Minister for Energy Transition, Agnes Pannier-Runacheron the sidelines of the informal European Council of Energy, Transport and Telecommunications Ministers.

The exponent of Renaissance, the party of President Emmanuel Macron, had convened a summit a few hours earlier with “all countries that have a place in European nuclear power, which will be one of the tools, together with renewables, to achieve our carbon neutrality goals”after having met his European counterparts in the Swedish capital.

The countries to which France has turned its attention are: Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Finland.

The goal, according to Pannier-Runacher, “is to create the nuclear alliance and to launch a strong signal in the various European negotiations, discussing professional skills, safety, supplies, waste management” and to do it also with the Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson.

“Renewables and nuclear energy – said the minister in Stockholm – are the pillars on which to build our energy transition, we need both and countries must be able to decide their own energy mix”.

The sun 24 hours, in your editorialplunges the blade even further into the matter, arguing bluntly that “Paris’ goal is known: to build the widest possible alliance on the atom in an anti-German key by giving nuclear power a leading place, alongside renewables, in the energy mix of the Old Continent.”

The nuclear is one of the investments that the European Commission compatible with the ecological and energy transitions: on this point it now seems clear that two distinct alignments are being created, which see Francewhich meets a large part of its energy needs with nuclear power plants, in favour, while Spain, Germany and even Austria, against.

In recent days there was no shortage of discussions on the subjectwith the aforementioned Reuters which had interviewed several officials and diplomatspresent in the European Parliament, in this regard.

To this links the article we dedicated to the matter.

Looking within our borders, Italy, as written above, will not take part in the summit convened by the French minister, but it is not clear at the moment how our position on this will evolve in the near future.

The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matthew Salvinia few hours after the invitation from Paris, he declared: “Investing in the latest generation of clean and safe nuclear power is a social, economic and environmental duty. Forward to the future”.

While of a different opinion is another of President Meloni’s ministers, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin (Minister of the Environment and Energy Security of Italy), exponent of FI, who despite being personally favorable to fourth-generation nuclear power, ha forcefully reaffirmed the Italian position.

“On nuclear power our country made a precise choice with the 1987 referendum. Any reflection on the subject will therefore first have to be evaluated in the government and also investigated by Parliament”.