00:00Thank you so much, Director General.
00:03Now it is my pleasure to welcome on stage
00:07Madame, or Her Excellency, Ursula von der Leyen,
00:12President of the European Commission.
00:26Dear President Macron, cher Emmanuel,
00:30thank you for hosting this crucial summit here today.
00:34Presidents, Prime Ministers, Director General Grossi,
00:39Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
00:44Europe's electricity prices are structurally too high.
00:50This matters enormously,
00:53because affordable electricity
00:55is not only important for our citizens' cost of living,
01:02but it is also decisive for industrial competitiveness.
01:07The industries of the futures,
01:10as you have said, rightly so,
01:12will be built on affordable electricity,
01:15because robotics and AI, just to name two,
01:21will drive the next wave of innovation and productivity
01:23across all industrial sectors.
01:27And both require affordable electricity
01:32in abundance.
01:33And that is why industrial competitiveness
01:37is increasingly determined
01:40by who can best produce,
01:43transport, store and use
01:47abundant and affordable electricity.
01:50Now, Europe is neither an oil nor a gas producer.
01:59For fossil fuels, we are completely dependent
02:02on expensive and volatile imports.
02:06They are putting us at a structural disadvantage
02:10to other regions.
02:12And the current Middle East crisis
02:14gives us a stark reminder
02:16of the vulnerability it creates.
02:20But we have homegrown energy sources,
02:26nuclear and renewable.
02:30And together, they can become the joint guarantors
02:34of independence, security of supply
02:38and competitiveness, if we get it right now.
02:45Over the last decade,
02:46we have made great progress on renewables.
02:49Solar and wind have overtaken fossil fuels
02:51in the EU's power mix.
02:54And our European wind turbine manufacturers
02:57are global powerhouses.
02:59They are exporting high-tech made in Europe
03:03to the world.
03:05The nuclear story, unfortunately,
03:08is different.
03:09And you described why.
03:12While in 1990,
03:15one-third of Europe's electricity
03:16came from nuclear,
03:19today it's only close to 15%.
03:24This reduction in the share of nuclear
03:26was a choice.
03:29And in hindsight,
03:31it was a strategic mistake for Europe
03:33to turn its back
03:35on a reliable, affordable source
03:39of low-emission power.
03:41This should change for two good reasons.
03:47First, because nuclear and renewables
03:50have a key role to play,
03:53this is not an either-or.
03:56It is in combination
03:58that they are most powerful.
04:02because what we need
04:04is the best overall energy mix,
04:07clean, affordable,
04:11resilient, European.
04:14Renewables produce the lowest-cost electrons,
04:17but they are volatile,
04:18depending on sun and wind.
04:20And sometimes the best sides
04:22are far from industrial demand centers.
04:26That is why we need also
04:28to invest in storage
04:29and in-demand flexibility
04:31and build out our grids.
04:34Nuclear energy is reliable,
04:39providing electricity all year
04:41around the clock.
04:42So the most efficient system
04:46combines nuclear and renewables
04:49and is underpinned by storage,
04:52flexibility and grids.
04:56The second reason is
04:58that Europe has been a pioneer
04:59in nuclear technology
05:01and could once again
05:03lead the world in it.
05:06Next-generation nuclear reactors
05:09could become
05:10a European high-tech,
05:12high-value export.
05:14And this is what brings us
05:17to Paris here today.
05:20In the last years,
05:22we see a global revival
05:23of nuclear energy.
05:26And Europe wants to be part of it.
05:29Last year,
05:30we changed our state aid rules
05:32to expand support
05:33to nuclear fission and fuels.
05:37We launched the world's
05:38first industrial alliance
05:40for small modular reactors.
05:43And we proposed to invest
05:45over 5 billion euros
05:47in our next budget
05:49on fusion research,
05:51notably through ITER.
05:54But after years
05:56of declining investment,
05:58we need more
05:58to turn the tide.
06:00And this is why today
06:02we are presenting
06:03a new European strategy
06:05for small modular reactors
06:07as a commission.
06:08Our goal is very simple.
06:11We want this new technology
06:13to be operational in Europe
06:15by the early 2030,
06:18so that it can play a key role
06:21alongside traditional nuclear reactors
06:25in a flexible, safe,
06:28and efficient energy system.
06:31We are proposing
06:32three main sets of measures.
06:35The first is we need
06:37simple rules.
06:40And you spoke about standardization.
06:43We will create
06:44regulatory sandboxes
06:46so that companies
06:48can test innovative technologies,
06:51and we will work
06:52with member states
06:53so that rules
06:54are lined across borders.
06:57And the logic
06:58is very clear.
07:00When it is safe
07:02to deploy,
07:04it has to be simple
07:06to deploy
07:07all across Europe.
07:10Second,
07:11we need to mobilize
07:13investment.
07:16And today,
07:16I can announce
07:17that we will create
07:18a 200 million euro guarantee
07:21to support investment
07:23in innovative
07:25nuclear technologies.
07:27And the resources
07:29will come from
07:29our emission trading system.
07:32Not only
07:33will we de-risk
07:34investments
07:35in these
07:36low-carbon technologies,
07:38we also want
07:40to give a clear signal
07:41for other investors
07:43to join.
07:45This is one
07:46concrete step,
07:48and it is part
07:50of a broader effort
07:51to improve
07:52the investment conditions
07:54for Europe's
07:55nuclear sector.
07:57My third point is
07:59this must be
08:00a joint
08:01European effort.
08:03The modular
08:04reactor business
08:05model needs
08:06scale.
08:08So operation
08:09across European borders
08:10is vital.
08:12And this is why
08:13we will work
08:14with member states
08:15to align
08:17their regulatory
08:18frameworks
08:19speed up
08:20permitting
08:21and develop
08:22the skills
08:23the sector
08:24needs.
08:26Companies
08:26from member states
08:28but also
08:28from trusted partners
08:29should also
08:31come together.
08:32For instance,
08:33they could
08:34co-invest
08:34in research,
08:36in testing
08:37facilities,
08:38and in creating
08:39European value
08:40chains
08:41for nuclear
08:41fuels.
08:44but our
08:45ambition
08:46is not
08:47limited to
08:48SMRs.
08:50We also
08:51need to
08:51strengthen
08:52the wider
08:53nuclear
08:54ecosystem.
08:56Let it be
08:57from fuels
08:58to technologies,
09:00from supply
09:00chains to
09:01skills,
09:02just to name
09:03a few.
09:04And this is
09:05also why
09:06we propose
09:07our clean
09:07energy investment
09:08strategy.
09:09to lower
09:11energy costs,
09:12to accelerate
09:14the deployment
09:14of clean
09:15technologies,
09:16and to
09:17open up
09:18more financing
09:19opportunities.
09:20Ladies and
09:21gentlemen,
09:23obviously,
09:24the nuclear
09:24race is on.
09:26But we know
09:27that Europe
09:27has everything
09:28it needs
09:29to lead.
09:31We have
09:32half a million
09:33highly skilled
09:34workers in
09:35nuclear,
09:36far more
09:37than the
09:38United States
09:38and China,
09:39actually.
09:40We lead
09:41global
09:41innovation
09:42in modular
09:42reactors.
09:44And now
09:45we have
09:45the ambition
09:45to move
09:46at speed
09:47and scale
09:48for Europe
09:49to be a
09:49global hub
09:50of next
09:50generation
09:51nuclear
09:51energy.
09:52Thank you
09:53so much
09:53and long
09:54live
09:54Europe.
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