00:00Is the EU about to go on a second honeymoon with nuclear?
00:08Europe's energy prices are three to four times higher than in the US or China,
00:13plus its low energy autonomy leaves it exposed to geopolitical uncertainty and shocks.
00:18Nuclear could be one of the ways to get out of the woods,
00:21but Europe's relationship with the atom remains complicated.
00:25Despite a little growth in nuclear energy production,
00:28EU-wide, mainly driven by France,
00:31most countries are actually reducing it,
00:34if not phasing it out altogether like Germany and by 2035 Spain.
00:39However, the wind might be changing.
00:41In its upcoming 2028-2034 budget,
00:44for the first time the European Commission proposed nuclear energy as eligible for EU funding.
00:51The proposal is unlikely to pass.
00:53However, some EU countries like Belgium or Italy,
00:56which were planning to abandon nuclear or phased it out already,
01:00are now looking into reversing that.
01:02Italy in particular, despite two referendums against nuclear,
01:06has introduced a draft bill to bring it back.
01:09The current picture has Europe divided into two groups.
01:12One is the nuclear alliance, led by France and backed by aspiring producers like Poland,
01:18Croatia and Estonia.
01:20On the opposite front, a renewables-only group,
01:22helmed by Germany and supported by Portugal and Austria,
01:26both with a long-standing anti-nuclear national policy.
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