Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

FBaggins

(26,681 posts)
Fri Oct 10, 2014, 01:35 PM Oct 2014

Germany mulls legal action over EU's nuclear Hinkley ruling

The Germany government is reportedly considering joining Austria in suing the European Commission for approving UK plans to help finance the £24.5bn construction of new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point, Somerset. According to Montel, the German ministries of energy and environment are studying the contract between EDF and the UK to ensure it complies with state aid guidelines.

After a lengthy investigation, the European Commission on Wednesday approved a modified UK plan to offer developer EDF Energy guaranteed payments of £92.50 per MWh for 35 years once the plant is built, which is expected to be around 2023.

The deal included a number of concessions designed to reduce the burden on the UK taxpayer, including a clawback mechanism to prevent EDF from raking in excess profits.

...snip...

The Austrian government, which has banned nuclear power from its energy mix, has already confirmed that it would seek a judicial review of the decision in the European Court of Justice, arguing such a mature form of technology should not receive government support.

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2374888/reports-germany-mulls-legal-action-over-eus-nuclear-hinkley-ruling
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Germany mulls legal action over EU's nuclear Hinkley ruling (Original Post) FBaggins Oct 2014 OP
Can't say as I blame them. They are trying to go nuke free and UK wants to use their jointly held jwirr Oct 2014 #1
Sorry, but they're idiots. Spider Jerusalem Oct 2014 #2
Those plans were in place years before the Fukushima tsunami. cprise Oct 2014 #4
Not really FBaggins Oct 2014 #5
Yes, really cprise Oct 2014 #6
Their jointly held money? FBaggins Oct 2014 #3

jwirr

(39,215 posts)
1. Can't say as I blame them. They are trying to go nuke free and UK wants to use their jointly held
Fri Oct 10, 2014, 04:24 PM
Oct 2014

money to build a nuke.

 

Spider Jerusalem

(21,786 posts)
2. Sorry, but they're idiots.
Fri Oct 10, 2014, 06:43 PM
Oct 2014

Germany went nuke free out of mindless post-Fukushima paranoia (because major earthquakes and tsunamis are totally things you need to worry about in Germany, I suppose?) and are increasing their carbon emissions by building new coal plants to make up the energy shortfall. The UK at least is committed to reducing carbon emissions in line with stated targets.

cprise

(8,445 posts)
4. Those plans were in place years before the Fukushima tsunami.
Fri Oct 10, 2014, 09:21 PM
Oct 2014
" The UK at least is committed to reducing carbon emissions in line with stated targets."

Having effectively gutted their insulation program, turning it into a scheme to put people further in debt to the banks, I doubt that boast could be sustained:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jan/16/thousands-insulation-jobs-lost
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/20/green-deal-plans-energy-efficient

I think if Germany can be blamed for anything here, it is for not falling as deeply into recession as the UK.

FBaggins

(26,681 posts)
5. Not really
Sat Oct 11, 2014, 08:43 PM
Oct 2014

Prior to Fukushima, Germany planned to hold on to their existing reactors into the 2030s in some cases. Immediately after Fukushima, they changed that policy and closed half of their plants (with the remaining half to close over the next several years).

I think if Germany can be blamed for anything here, it is for not falling as deeply into recession as the UK.

That too is a pre-policy-shift understanding. The UK has grown faster since then and now it's the UK that worries that weakness in Germany will pull them back into a recession.


Eurozone on cusp of triple-dip recession as German exports crumble

Germany’s exports are falling at the fastest rate since the global crisis in 2009, raising fears of a triple-dip recession and a disastrous relapse for the rest of the eurozone.

The country’s five economic institutes - or "Wise Men" - slashed their growth forecast for Germany from 2pc to 1.2pc next year, warning that the latest measures unveiled by the European Central Bank will add “hardly any” extra stimulus to the real economy and may be unworkable.

Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, warned that the eurozone is at “serious risk” of falling back into recession if nothing is done, and is in danger of suffering a lost decade. “If the right policies are decided, if both surplus and deficit countries do what they have to do, it is avoidable,” she said. The wording is a clear call to Germany for an immediate shift in policy.

German exports slumped by 5.8pc in August as the crisis in Ukraine and Russia took its toll. “We’re no longer in a recovery,” said Volker Treier, head of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). He said geopolitical upsets may have pushed the economy over the edge into a “technical recession”, but added that Germany itself is also to blame for failure to break out of a slow-growth trap. “We have too little investment. That’s been the case for years,” he said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/11152731/Eurozone-on-cusp-of-triple-dip-recession-as-German-exports-crumble.html

cprise

(8,445 posts)
6. Yes, really
Mon Oct 13, 2014, 06:25 PM
Oct 2014

The policy was decided in 2000 and the goverment acted on it through the mid-2000s. Then Merkle came in and there was much political wrangling because in 2010 she intended to re-certify nuclear reactors beyond their normal operational lifetime, a highly unpopular and corrupt maneuver.

It is more honest to say that an abberant decision was aborted before it took hold.

FBaggins

(26,681 posts)
3. Their jointly held money?
Fri Oct 10, 2014, 07:00 PM
Oct 2014

Did the UK go off the pound when I wasn't looking?

Even if they did... fiscal policy and monetary policy are two entirely different things.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Environment & Energy»Germany mulls legal actio...