(CN) – The European Court of Justice scolded Slovakia on Thursday for imposing a charge on one of its own power companies to export electricity to other member states.
Slovakia adopted the scheme in 2008 following the cessation of two units at the Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear power plant. Though the charge is no longer applied, the Slovak company Korlea Invest, which is the legal successor to the company FENS, at the time faced a requirement to pay 6.8 million euros.
British lobbying to reduce monitoring of EU countries’ action on climate change has sparked outrage among MEPs and environmentalists.
EU states agreed last October to cut their carbon emissions 40% by 2030, but a UK plan co-authored with the Czech Republic proposes that countries’ emissions cuts should only be overseen with a ‘light touch’ regime with a diminished role for Brussels.
The EU has 18 Russian-designed nuclear power plants
Following the loss of the Malaysian airliner last week, European leaders are once again wrestling with the question of how to respond to Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis.
They are reluctant to get tough, much more so than the United States.
The EU could easily end up doing itself a lot of economic harm, most obviously if Russia were to respond by turning down the gas.
BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's plans to reward nuclear plant operators through fixed prices for low-carbon energy are illegal under existing EU rules and efforts to adapt them are likely to draw opposition from other member states, EU and legal sources said.
Britain plans to reform its electricity market to fix a minimum price for nuclear, wind and solar-generated power, which is carbon free.
Lithuania's prime minister says ending support in 2020 could delay the full closure of its Ignalina plant.
Leaders of the European Union's member states are expected at their summit next week (7-8 February) to agree to cover roughly half the costs of decommissioning Soviet-era nuclear power plants, as part of a deal on the EU's long-term budget.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia vowed on Monday to join forces on backing nuclear power within the EU when they held their first joint government meeting since the former Czechoslovakia split peacefully 20 years ago.
Prague and Bratislava will join forces "to prevent the torpedoing of further development of nuclear energy within the EU, including the Czech Republic and Slovakia," Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas told reporters.
A leaked European Commission draft report says Europe should solve the problem of handling nuclear waste by making industry pay to stash it deep underground, where it will be overseen by independent watchdogs.
"The current situation of spent fuel and radioactive waste management in EU member states is not satisfactory," says the draft, seen by Reuters Thursday.
