Source: European Parliament
When developing the EU Taxonomy[1], the Commission prioritised economic activities which have the greatest potential to make a substantial contribution to one or more EU environmental objectives without causing significant harm to the others.
The EU Taxonomy covers therefore nuclear activities which can play an important role in moving towards a carbon-neutral economy, including research, development, demonstration and deployment of advanced nuclear technologies with minimal waste from the fuel cycle, construction and operation of new nuclear power plants using best-available technologies and upgrading of existing nuclear installations for the purposes of lifetime extension.
The EU Taxonomy is a living document and will continue to evolve over time, with more activities being added to its scope by means of amendments.
Stakeholders are able to address suggestions and questions on new activities to be included in the EU Taxonomy or on possible amendments relating to existing activities. For this purpose, the Commission established a stakeholder request mechanism[2] and, with input from the Platform on Sustainable Finance[3], it assesses suggestions received.
When developing the Taxonomy, the Commission paid particular attention to ensuring that all economic activities within a sector are treated equally when they contribute equally towards the environmental objective.
Consequently, the activities in the energy sector include activities relating to all major energy sources, including nuclear energy.
- [1] https://finance.ec.europa.eu/sustainable-finance/tools-and-standards/eu-taxonomy-sustainable-activities_en
- [2] https://finance.ec.europa.eu/sustainable-finance/overview-sustainable-finance/platform-sustainable-finance/stakeholder-request-mechanism_en
- [3] https://finance.ec.europa.eu/sustainable-finance/overview-sustainable-finance/platform-sustainable-finance_en