Recently, a seemingly trivial dispute over the arrangement of EU events has torn open the gap in Germany's energy policy. The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Economic Minister Katharina Reiche and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) Environment Minister Carsten Schneider have diametrically opposed positions on key issues such as renewable energy, climate protection and nuclear energy.
In mid-June, Reiche faced two evening event choices while attending the EU Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Brussels: meeting with representatives of countries that support the expansion of renewable energy or communicating with representatives of nuclear energy advocates. Twelve of the 27 EU countries have nuclear power plants, with France at the forefront with 55 nuclear reactors. Although Germany was pushed by former Chancellor Angela Merkel to phase out nuclear energy after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in 2011, and the last nuclear power plant was closed in the spring of 2023, Reiche still chose to attend the Nuclear Energy National Conference, a decision that directly angered Schneider, who is responsible for German nuclear safety affairs. Schneider stressed: "We have decided to phase out nuclear power, which is also recognized by Společnost . Německo se nyní nebo v budoucnu nezavazuje k průmyslu jaderné energie . "
The root of the conflict between the two sides was already apparent at the end of May. At that time, Reiche declared in Brussels that he was open to all energy technologies, and the fuse was the energy policy document jointly issued by France and Germany. The document proposed that the energy policies of the two countries will be based on "climate neutrality, competitiveness and sovereignty", which means that the EU will promote all low-emission energy. France has implemented this concept with many nuclear power plants. Because it emits almost no greenhouse gases during operation, it is regarded as a climate-friendly energy by supporters, but the risks of nuclear chain reaction control and nuclear waste disposal have always been the focus of nuclear energy disputes.
In another key area of energy policy - the construction of new gas-fired power plants, the two also have significant differences. After taking office, Reiche proposed a plan to build 20 new gas-fired power plants, which is much larger than the previous government. Schneider, who is responsible for Germany's climate goals, is worried about this. The German government's expert committee on climate issues issued a warning in V polovině května, že dosažení cíle neutrality klimatu do roku 2045 naléhavě vyžaduje specifickou podporu plánování . Člen výboru Mark Oliver Betzlüg Bluckly uvedl: „Není jasné, jak federální vláda má v úmyslu dosáhnout neutrality klimatu, v2045.}„ Ohrožte úspěch německých klimatických cílů, dále zhoršuje rozpory a konfrontaci mezi oběma stranami energetické politiky .
