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Ebba BUSCH : Good morning, and we have quite a day ahead of us, also given the backdrop of the terrible events and the unfolding situation in Iran, affecting both the citizens of Iran and Israel, the whole of the Middle East, but also of course affecting the whole of the financial market and not least the energy sector. So basically we're having yet another Energy Council where security really is at the center of the discussions. Marc FERRACCI and I just came from the nuclear alliance that we have thus far chaired together. We are now seeing more and more countries joining the nuclear alliance for the very fact that we need all good powers to unite. And I'm then both talking all good powers in terms of country, but all good powers in terms of energy sources. If we are to secure our own sovereignty, we need to connect the energy issues even closer to defense and to the discussion on sovereignty. Without a secure energy sector, we don't have an industry. Without an industry, we don't have defense. Without defense, we have no sovereignty. It is all connected. We are looking forward to today's discussion. Of course, some turbulence whenever you want to take even further steps in truly cutting the cord to Russian dependency, but these are steps that are needed to take. And on behalf of the nuclear alliance, we see that we have even more members joining today, Italy as full members of the nuclear alliance. And all of these countries are of course emphasizing it is not only nuclear, it is the adding of more fossil-free dispatchable baseload that is needed to the system. So a good start to the morning.
Marc FERRACCI : Très bonne réunion, dans un environnement, Ebba l'a dit, qui est extrêmement incertain et qui rend d'autant plus important la nécessité de sortir de la dépendance aux énergies fossiles. Il n'y a pas de sécurité énergétique en Europe si on reste dépendant aux énergies fossiles. C'est un message que l'on porte, c'est un message que nous portons avec l'Alliance du nucléaire. Effectivement, cette réunion nous a permis de marquer un certain nombre d'étapes, et notamment de saluer le travail de la Commission sur le PINC, qui est véritablement une étape extrêmement encourageante sur la manière dont la Commission perçoit l'énergie nucléaire. Puisque, il est reconnu dans ce document que le nucléaire a une utilité pour l'ensemble du système électrique européen, a une utilité pour stabiliser le système électrique. Donc, nous avons aujourd'hui véritable changement de paradigme. C'est comme ça que, moi, je le perçois, vis-à-vis du nucléaire qui est en train de se produire en Europe. Et ce changement de paradigme, je pense que c'est beaucoup du travail de l'Alliance, beaucoup le travail de la Suède, de la France, mais aussi de tous les autres pays. Effectivement, nous sommes des membres fondateurs de l'Alliance. Il y a une dynamique, il y a de l'intérêt pour aller vers toutes les sources d'énergie décarbonée, et pour appliquer, de manière, au fond, extrêmement rigoureuse, ce principe de neutralité technologique qui est à la base de ce que nous proposons. Donc, très constructif, et je pense que nous avons aujourd'hui beaucoup d'atouts pour faire progresser l'énergie nucléaire. Et l'atmosphère, a été, comme d'habitude, extrêmement chaleureuse.
Question : Monsieur le ministre, est-ce que l'Allemagne sera présente dans le futur meeting de l'alliance ou elle était peut-être déjà observatrice aujourd'hui ?
Marc FERRACCI : Il se trouve que Katherina REICHE était présente en tant qu'observatrice et nous saluons évidemment très chaleureusement sa présence.
Ebba BUSCH : If I may just add to Marc's point here and also thank France for all the heavy work that you have done, Marc, also on the issue on financing. We are now seeing massive amounts of capital flowing into the nuclear power sector in China, in the U.S., in Canada, but not in the same way in the European Union. And this is the reason why the work that France has been leading on behalf of the nuclear alliance when it comes to setting the market for financing is so important. Either Europe will be left on the platform when now large investments are going into nuclear power, or we find a way to speed up. And I think the points that were made today were very good. Also, as Marc just pointed out, we had the privilege of having Katherina REICHE in the room today as guest in their own right. And Germany will be making a comeback as a technology-neutral country, emphasizing the need for a strong competitive sector.
Question : What are your hopes for the German opening up to this now ?
Ebba BUSCH : I think we should be realistic. We should take the German government by their words. I met again with Friedrich MERZ just a few weeks ago when he reiterated once again Germany is making a comeback when it comes to technology neutrality. We have seen the remarks from both President MACRON and the Bundeskanzler on this. And of course Katherina REICHE is a person who she herself has a strong experience from the energy sector. She knows what actually works and functions or not. And I think it's a big step that we now have a large majority of the members within the European Union are either actively pro-nuclear themselves or acknowledge that it is an important part of the energy mix. So let's take Germany by their word and work together where it is possible.
Question : (inaudible)
Marc FERRACCI : Nous sommes évidemment en soutien du plan REPowerEU. Comme je le disais, l'enjeu, c'est de sortir de cette dépendance aux énergies fossiles et particulièrement celle qui viennent de Russie. Donc, nous avons besoin maintenant, en Européens, d'accélérer sur cet aspect-là. Nous sommes attentifs à ce que ça se fasse en bon ordre, dans des conditions juridiques qui soient sécurisées. Et encore une fois, c'est un soutien plein et entier à ce plan de la part de la France et je pense de la part de la plupart des membres de l'Union.
Question : You talk about that nuclear could be important for also European security, but at the same time we see in Ukraine, we see in Iran attacks on nuclear facilities. Couldn't that also be a potential risk ?
Ebba BUSCH : I think the energy sector as a whole is, I mean, it is a critical infrastructure, so that will also always be sort of a weak point or a point that will be of interest for an enemy to target. But if you look at, for example, the situation that we had in Spain just recently, where the whole of the country went down for lack of a base load, lack of an efficiently set up and modern grid system, lack of emphasizing the need of islanding or a dead net start when once the whole system has gone down and needs to be restarted. I mean, so the security issues have come into play in a completely different way since many, many years. But believe me when I say, and I say this because I know I have the backing from the Ukrainian energy minister, German GALUSHCHENKO, when I say Ukraine would have already been taken if they did not have the large entities of base load that they have. And we should be very grateful that they have had a mix of both renewables and also large entities of base load, and the knowledge on how to keep the system going in parts of the country even when the system is under full attack from an actual bomb on site.
Marc FERRACCI : Et peut-être pour illustrer ce que vient de dire Ebba, dans l'épisode du blackout en Espagne, il y a eu une coopération extrêmement étroite entre la France et l'Espagne pour restaurer le système, et la pilotabilité de l'énergie nucléaire de ce point de vue est un atout extraordinaire. Parce que l'ensemble du système électrique européen a besoin de cette pilotabilité, on sait qu'on a besoin d'un base load, et ce que dit au fond cette alliance du nucléaire, c'est que nous devons tenir compte de la valeur collective que représente la pilotabilité qu'apporte le nucléaire. C'est ça que nous essayons de pousser comme argument.
Question : Mr. Bush, what do you hope for as the next steps coming after the bidding zone review, given that Germany quite strongly predicted the outcome ?
Ebba BUSCH : Well, on behalf of Sweden, we have made a few decisions on our own. I gave my TSO the assignment to now make their own proposal. We believe that the model for the bidding zones that countries were requested to apply did not fully take into account all of the decisions that have already been made to strengthen the system. For example, things that we are doing when it comes to our hydropower system, things that we are doing when it comes to increasing and strengthening our grid system and so forth, will be adding even more power to the system. So we will have our own proposal in one year's time. And I think the whole discussion on bidding zones and the frictions that we are seeing between countries, for example, Norway and Denmark, two really good friends, but now having major friction when it comes to an update of interconnectors between the countries, all of that can be bridged by adding more base load to the system and making also the grid systems smarter. For example, applying AI and the next digitization to the grid system. But, I mean, you cannot overbridge a lack of baseload by more interconnectors. And that is the critique that both France and I have provided to the Commission as well. But we will have our own proposal in one year's time on behalf of Sweden.
Question : (Inaudible) Are you satisfied with the last draft ? Or are there some points you want to fix ?
Ebba BUSCH : There are always points that one might have wanted to tweak, and I will make a few points on that in the room today. But in essence, we need to REPowerEU. We need to send a strong signal in this challenging geopolitical time that EU has the means and the power to also take these issues seriously. I think it would be bad if this is now prolonged too long. We know we have some turbulence with Hungary. I look forward to hearing my colleagues in the room today. But in essence, we need to move forward. And also, I would say, in relation to the U.S., it would also be a show of strength that we take the energy issues very seriously as part of our competitiveness, but also as part of our security strategy.
Question : Mr. FERRACCI, you said you support the RePower proposals, but how confident are you of the legal basis that the Commission will propose will allow French companies to end or call for some general contracts they have with Russian companies ?
Marc FERRACCI : Il y a, au moment où on se parle, des analyses juridiques, qui sont menées par les administrations, par la Commission. Nous suivons ces analyses juridiques, et encore une fois, un soutien plein et entier au principe de ce plan, avec le souci de faire en sorte que l'on trouve les bonnes solutions pour sécuriser au maximum les entreprises.
Source https://ue.delegfrance.org, le 18 juin 2025