Bart De Wever on the nuclear exit: “The will of the greens has become law”

“The federal government is plunging us into total uncertainty with this attitude.” N-VA chairman Bart De Wever responds to reports in the De Tijd newspaper that nuclear power plant operator Engie is assuming that the closure of all nuclear power plants planned by the federal government will take place. “The government officially claims it has not yet taken a decision on closing the two newest nuclear power plants. However, now we read that in private, the government is already eagerly pushing for the closure of all the power stations.”

The N-VA has long been a proponent of keeping the two newest nuclear power plants open longer. In anticipation of more cost-effective renewable energy, nuclear energy has the advantage of the security of supply and affordability. Moreover, nuclear power plants do not emit any CO2.

Government eagerly urges closure of nuclear power plants

However, the purple-green government is not interested in these arguments and is determined to shut down nuclear power plants. Although it has given itself until the end of 2021 to make a final decision, the report in the De Tijd newspaper suggests otherwise. “The federal government has always said that it will postpone that decision until the end of this year, depending on the security of supply and affordability of our energy. However, now we read that the government is already eagerly pushing for the closure of all the power stations internally, while there is still no clarity on the feasibility of additional gas power stations as an alternative, let alone on the method of financing. It is also well known that every additional gas power station will make our efforts towards climate neutrality much more difficult,” says Bart De Wever.

Finance CO2 emissions and dig a deeper budgetary hole

According to chairman De Wever, the purple-green government is plunging us into total uncertainty with this attitude. “Instead of playing it safe and converting future Engie profits into nuclear interest to fuel our budget, they seem to prefer to fund tonnes of additional CO2 emissions through subsidies and dig the budget hole deeper, without any guarantees.”

The will of the Greens is law

It seems that the government is no longer allowing itself any flexibility on the energy issue. “For the sake of dogmatic thinking, the government is even sabotaging its own negotiating position against the interests of citizens. The question now is: is the Minister of Energy doing this behind the Prime Minister’s back or does she already have the blessing of the entire government? If the latter is the case, it is time that people also dared to admit publicly that the will of the Greens has become law. N-VA MP Bert Wollants, who is following up on this issue for us, will submit an interpellation on this in case of urgency.”