Sun, wind and radiation. The unprecedented trio - put together for mere bureaucratic reasons - would be in the sights of Brussels, which wants to change the rules of apparently distant sectors, but which often have a common parent: the state. The European Commission is about to review the rules governing public aid to the energy sector, in particular renewables and nuclear energy.
“We need much more clarity,” a senior Brussels official explained to the French newspaper Les Echos. And a preliminary debate between the 28 commissioners is already scheduled for today: the goal is to agree on the principles on which the new European framework will be based.
The proposals on the table could lead to radical changes for solar and wind producers. The latter have enjoyed a support system adopted in almost all of the Old Continent. "The current system creates distortions - continues the senior official - we want to understand how to make everything more efficient".
Le Echos cites an internal report within the Commission and has already given some anticipations. The principle of public subsidies remains a viable path. But Brussels could decide to allocate the funds through tenders, which do not take into account the proposed technology (biomass, wind, solar, etc…).
At the same time, Brussels wants to change the rules for public financing of nuclear energy. An issue that also has a symbolic value, with the rekindling of the debate on the atom after Fukushima.
