Luxembourg joins Austria against ‘green’ label on gas and nuclear energy

Following the steps taken by the Austrian authorities, Luxembourg announced on Monday that it will denounce before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) the “green” classification of gas and nuclear energy.

Luxembourg announced on Monday its decision to join the complaint filed by Austria before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for the “green” classification of gas and nuclear energy, approved by the community bloc.

“On 15 July 2022, the delegated ‘taxonomy’ regulation that includes nuclear energy and natural gas in the ‘green taxonomy’ was published in the ‘Official Journal’ of the European Union (OJEU). Austria lodged an appeal against the Delegated Regulation on ‘taxonomy’ on 7 October 2022. Luxembourg will intervene alongside Austria,” the Luxembourg government said in a statement.

The new European classification of investments considered supposedly “sustainable” – formally called “taxonomy” – includes nuclear power plants with a construction permit before 2045 and gas plants that emit less than 270 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour until 2031 or less than 100 grams in their entire lifetime.

Following the publication of Austria’s notice of appeal in the OJEU, Luxembourg will submit its application to the European courts and once accepted will be able to submit its statement of objections, as specified by the Luxembourg ministries of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development and Energy and Spatial Planning.

This statement of objection shall contain the substantive arguments against the delegated regulation on ‘taxonomy’. The Austrian demand is based on a report by international experts who point out that atomic energy is not sustainable.

Furthermore, Austria considers that the regulation submitted by the European Commission is legally incorrect, since that institution lacks competence for such far-reaching political decisions. Procedural flaws are also cited, as EU states would have had little time to assess the measures.

While the French state and some Nordic countries backed the controversial “taxonomy”, which will come into force on January 1, 2023, others such as Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg and the Spanish state showed opposition.

Source: Naiz