Austria challenges EU over clean energy decision

Controversy surrounding the inclusion of gas and nuclear in the bloc’s green rulebook from the start of next year is likely to rumble on, with a number of challenges to the decision

Austria filed a challenge against the EU’s decision to declare nuclear power and natural gas as clean energies.

Austria, one of the continent’s starkest opponents of nuclear power, filed a challenge against the EU’s decision to declare the fuel and natural gas as clean energies.

The country filed the suit over the EU’s new classification system known as taxonomy on Friday at the European Court of Justice, according to energy minister Leonore Gewessler.

The classification provides guidelines for investors to establish which investments can be considered environmentally friendly in order to spur the energy transition.

It is the latest sign the controversy surrounding the inclusion of gas and nuclear in the bloc’s green rulebook from the start of next year is likely to rumble on, with a number of environmental organisations, including Greenpeace, also challenging the decision.

The process could take as long as two years to resolve, according to the ministry.

Luxembourg has pledged to support the motion and the Austrian government is hoping other member states will also back its claim. 

Including gas and nuclear “doesn’t solve the problem of climate change, but deepens it,” Gewessler told reporters.

Critics have argued the inclusion of gas is not in line with the bloc’s goal to become climate neutral by the middle of the century.

• Bloomberg