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“The US is the winner of the energy transition.” France is beginning to understand how the world works

“The United States will be the main winner if the Franco-German division over nuclear energy prevents the finalization of the long-awaited reform of the European electricity market, the French Energy Minister warned .” Consi begins an interesting article in the Financial Times, quoting a French minister who has become aware of the reality: the climate transition is a scam in which the USA is the industrial winner.

Agnès Pannier-Runacher said in an interview with the Financial Times that a radical overhaul of EU rules is needed as soon as possible to give businesses visibility over energy prices, at a time when the US is attracting industry with President Joe Biden's clean energy subsidy program under the Inflation Reduction Act, while the EU fails to stimulate the industry in any way due to its own bureaucratic and useless systems.

Industrial investments in the United States have been multiplied by three thanks to the IRA, while Europe, between skyrocketing costs and inadequate measures, is moving towards deindustrialization.

The appeal comes ahead of a bilateral conference to be held in Hamburg, starting on Monday, between French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, accompanied by their respective ministers. Paris and Berlin have been arguing for months over the reform of the EU electricity market, in particular over how the pricing of nuclear energy will be set and to what extent it can be subsidized.

The positions are obvious: Paris, supported by Poland and some other countries with nuclear power plants, wants a price that allows it to subsidize the nuclear industry. Moreover, France produces 70% of its energy from nuclear power and has committed to building a large number of additional reactors. Germany has closed its own and fears that a tariff favorable to nuclear power constitutes state aid to strengthen French superiority and its industry.

The discussion over electricity between France and Germany is becoming increasingly heated, with mutual accusations and economic concerns taking center stage.

Agnès Pannier-Runacher decided to set the record straight and stated that it is a serious mistake to think that electricity is much cheaper in France than in other countries. He rejected accusations that France favored the relocation of German companies for its own benefit. Rumors circulating that French nuclear operator EDF is trying to lure German companies to France were forcefully rejected by Pannier-Runacher. He said: “I'm still waiting to hear the name of any German company that has moved massively into France.” After all, France has a rich market for Italian companies, why must it turn to German ones?

Pannier-Runacher also pointed out that many French and German companies are considering investments in the United States, saying they would have preferred to make them in France or Germany if they had more visibility in the market.

Meanwhile, Germany is concerned about the impact of high energy prices on its export-oriented economy. Proposals to subsidize electricity for energy-intensive companies have been discussed, but the move could raise competition concerns according to Brussels. And then why should consumers pay for Berlin's inability to produce energy efficiently. I'm not Italian, they are.

The situation is still evolving and it is unclear whether France and Germany will be able to find a compromise in time for the next meeting of EU energy ministers on 17 October. However, both countries are aware of the importance of resolving this dispute, especially considering the upcoming European Parliament elections, which could change the political majorities in the two countries.

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The article “The US is the winner of the energy transition”. France is starting to understand how the world works comes from Economic Scenarios .


This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/gli-usa-sono-i-vincitori-della-transizione-energetica-la-francia-incomincia-a-capire-come-gira-il-mondo/ on Sun, 08 Oct 2023 09:00:17 +0000.