Letter sent on 25 June 2014 by Jan Mládek, the Czech Republic's minister of industry and trade, to energy commissioner Gunter Oettinger
Dear Commisioner,
On
behalf of the Ministers of Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Lithuania,
Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom responsible
for energy policy, I take the liberty to address you on our common view
of nuclear power within the EU energy market and its role in ensuring
energy security and decarbonisation.
Over
recent months the issue of energy security within the EU has evolved,
and we all agree that nuclear power will have an important role in the
future of the EU's energy mix. We believe that Member States must
maintain their right to determine their own energy mix and nuclear power
will therefore have a greater role in helping individual Member States
secure their own indigenous energy supply.
Many
Member States have immediate challenges in bringing forward the
generating capacity needed to create a secure, low carbon and affordable
energy system. There are a number of failures in energy markets across
Europe bringing serious concerns about the ability of markets alone to
offer the sufficient security required to stimulate investment on a
purely commercial basis. National support mechanisms, consistent witht
the Internal Energy Market and the competition rules provided by the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), may therefore be
needed. The Comission itself has recognised, in its Communication from 5
November 2013, that such intervention might be necessary "to secure a
level playing field, overcome market failures, foster technology and
innovation deployment and, more generally, support the market in
delivering appropriate investment signals." An agreed 2030 climate and
energy package and the full implementation of the third energy package
should contribute to a well-functioning electricity market that fulfills
our future needs.
Well
diversified energy systems are essential if we want to ensure energy
security. We need an energy mix that will affordably meet our
decarbonization objectives and meet energy demand. In the last decade
the European Union has faced a continuous decline in its domestic energy
production. This could be decelerated in the medium term by increasing
the use of renewables according to EU policy and maintaining or
developing nuclear energy according to policies of individual Member
States. Nuclear energy's significant role in the European energy mix
should be clearly recognized.
We
are convinced that nuclear energy should keep its proper place in
European energy policy in accordance with the Treaties. Nuclear energy
perfectly fits the three pillars of energy policy as reflected in the
TFEU: security of supply, sustainability and competitiveness. Moreover
the Euratom Treaty provides for obligations of the European institutions
to support the development of nuclear power. In our view, nuclear
energy, for its physical and economic characteristics, is entitled to be
treated as an indigenous source of energy with respect to energy
security, having an important social and economic dimension.
Nuclear
power stations insofar as they are compliant with the highest safety
standards, bring significant benefits to EU decarbonization, energy
security and economic growth. In this respect, the European leadership
in nuclear industry should be preserved. Unfortunately, it should be
recognized that numerous market failures are currently preventing
investment coming forward and this shuld not be overlooked by the
Commission. Nuclear energy which requires capital intensive and
long-term investment, should be supported by market mechanisms to create
a predictable investment framework.
We
call on the Commission to reflect on these circumstances in its crucial
decisions and political commitments. In particular, it is important
that the market failures and the need to hedge against investment risks
are accounted for in order to create the necessary market conditions for
investment in new nuclear build projects in Europe. A technology
neutral approach creating a level playing field for all low-emission
sources is crucial. We have to make wise strategic decisions that will
secure stable energy supplies at competitive prices for future
generations.
Yours sincerely
Jan Mládek
Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic