![Italy’s energy mix, 2022. Image: Our World in Data.](https://u4d2z7k9.rocketcdn.me/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/share-energy-source-sub.png)
Italy’s energy mix, 2022. Image: Our World in Data.
The centre-right parties in the Italian government – Fratelli d’Italia (ECR), Lega (ID) and Forza Italia (EPP) – had already made their intention to return to investing in nuclear power part of the election programme with which they won the general election in September 2022, EUR Active said.
The move comes as the debate heats up in Italy on using nuclear power, seen as a significant change as the country voted in a referendum to steer clear of nuclear energy after the 1987 Chernobyl disaster.
The signatories signed a declaration in Stockholm, with the objective of “jointly reaffirming their desire to strengthen European cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.”
“Nuclear energy is one of many tools to achieve our climate goals, to generate baseload electricity and to ensure security of supply,” reads the declaration, which was signed on the margins of a meeting of EU energy ministers organised by Sweden, the current holder of the EU’s six-month rotating presidency.
French Energy Transition Minister Agnès-Pannier Runacher, who initiated the meeting, said the objective of the alliance was “to structure cooperation on the whole nuclear value chain” and provide Europe “with all the tools to reach carbon neutrality by 2050”.
The eleven signatories include Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, also took part in the meeting, an EU official confirmed
However, Earth.org said that many Italians, “especially among the younger electorate, many still regard this type of energy as dangerous or not economically viable.”
“Moreover, a government intending to build new nuclear power plants will inevitably have to deal with protests and vetoes, even from local authorities – usually uncooperative toward new energy infrastructures,” it said.