Bart De Wever on the De Ochtend radio show: “Engie gets a Win for Life in exchange for the nuclear phase-out”

The French energy company Engie announces in an open letter that it cannot guarantee the extension of the nuclear power plants under the present circumstances. N-VA chairman Bart De Wever responds to that open letter on the De Ochtend radio show: “This company has won a Win for Life with the subsidies it receives for gas-fired power stations in exchange for the nuclear phase-out.”

Engie’s open letter sets the door ajar for the extension of the nuclear power plants, Bart De Wever says, if there are concessions in the regulatory framework. “That’s fine by me. But the main question is: What will make Engie the richest? By producing cheap nuclear energy? Or by filling up with hundreds of millions of euros in subsidies from Ms Van der Straeten to produce very dirty gas energy? This company gets a Win for Life in exchange for the nuclear phase-out.”

A matter of political will

The extension of the nuclear power plants requires, among other things, an environmental impact report and a public consultation. Engie says this will take five years, unless the deadlines are shortened. “If Ms Van der Straeten was going to implement the coalition agreement, she could have started the environmental impact report and the public consultation long ago. Now that has yet to be started,” Bart De Wever says: “There are many experts and people within Engie who report to me anonymously that it is still possible to extend the nuclear power plants. It is a matter of political will. But a company that can fill up with massive subsidies will of course no longer want to go down that path.”

A “Vilvaldi” law of 2003 is the source of all evil

During the negotiations for a “purple-yellow” government in 2020, everyone agreed that the nuclear power plants should be extended, including the Socialists and the Christian Democrats, Bart De Wever says. “Just about everyone thought that that foolish ‘Vilvaldi’ law of 2003 on the nuclear exit had to be revised. That is the source of all evil. But then they teamed up with the Groen party so they could make De Croo prime minister.” 

Against all logic

De Wever points out that the coalition agreement states that all options must be explored. “What do I conclude? Only one thing has been examined, and that is the closure of the nuclear power plants. That goes against all logic. It will become more expensive, our power supply will be less secure, and we will become geopolitically dependent on Putin and Lukashenko to supply gas. We are seeing a nuclear renaissance throughout the world as everyone rightly focuses on CO2 emissions. We need to electrify on a massive scale, but no one wants a climate-neutral source for doing that. We are becoming the dirtiest and most expensive country without a single logical argument.”

The government plunges this country into total uncertainty

To cope with the closure of the nuclear power plants, there is not yet a single gigawatt of assured replacement. That is disastrous for our country, Bart De Wever points out. “We have the largest petrochemical cluster in Europe. If the energy there is interrupted for one second, those plants will be out of operation for six weeks. The federal government is plunging this country into total uncertainty.”

For Bart De Wever, the way forward is clear. “People have to start having serious talks with Engie. But preferably not by De Croo, who got the wet mop prepared by the Groen party in his face. As long as there is a bag of money ready in exchange for a nuclear phase-out, this is not serious.”