During the Nuclear Energy Summit held in Paris on 10 March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that reducing nuclear power generation “was a strategic mistake”, the consequences of which European countries have been increasingly experiencing since the Russian gas crisis, and even more so following the energy crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the war between the United States and Iran.
Just three days after the conflict broke out, oil prices in European markets had already risen by 8%, while gas prices had more than doubled, with increases of up to 60%. For European Union countries, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has had a major impact, further exacerbated by the fact that European gas storage levels were already at just 36% of total capacity at the beginning of 2026, one of the lowest levels recorded in recent years. In addition, gas restocking has been hampered by EU countries’ increased reliance on liquefied natural gas imports from Gulf countries, which had helped meet the rise in demand following sanctions on Russian gas imports.
President von der Leyen’s statement therefore comes at a time when the EU risks facing a new energy crisis, just a few years after the launch of the REPowerEU plan, introduced by the European Commission in May 2022 with the aim of making EU countries more energy-independent by reducing fossil fuel imports, increasing domestic renewable energy production and introducing a joint gas purchasing system to allow all European countries to secure supplies at more competitive prices.
The €300 billion that the European Commission has mobilised through NextGenerationEU to pursue Europe’s energy objectives is intended, over a four-year period, to reduce energy imports by around 50%, equivalent to approximately €30 billion. At the same time, for the first time in 2025, European renewable energy production surpassed energy generated from fossil fuels, largely thanks to investments in solar and wind power facilities.
Despite these achievements, European countries remain vulnerable to global shocks affecting energy production, particularly because of the significant disparities in energy production and imports, with several countries relying on imports for more than 60% of their domestic energy needs. To address the remaining shortages and internal disparities, the European Commission is reconsidering a return to nuclear power, which could be adopted across European countries regardless of the availability of renewable natural resources.
As early as 2022, the European Commission included nuclear energy among the green and sustainable sources in which investment could contribute to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. However, due to differing positions among European countries on nuclear power, investment in the sector has so far faced numerous obstacles, including the growing number of EU countries that have decided over the past decade to phase out nuclear power — among them Germany and Spain — primarily because of concerns about the safety of nuclear power plants and the potential environmental impact of the waste they produce.
The internal divide over nuclear power has resulted in the creation of two opposing political blocs within Europe: the Friends of Renewables, a coalition led by Austria, Denmark and Germany that opposes including nuclear power among renewable and green energy sources; and the Nuclear Alliance, a coalition of 14 countries led by France and committed to promoting nuclear technologies within the European Union in order to meet decarbonisation targets while maintaining the EU’s competitiveness and energy autonomy.
In the current context of crisis, overcoming the divide over nuclear power and promoting a common approach within the European Union could create new opportunities for targeted investment in the sector, which could also benefit from joint efforts in research and the development of new technologies. In this area too, the European Commission launched a strategy last March to promote the deployment of Small Modular Reactors, an innovative and safer technology that could make the construction of nuclear power plants more efficient through mass production, lower costs and greater ease of deployment.
The energy crisis that has persisted in the European Union for four years has led to a general reassessment of the risks and opportunities associated with nuclear energy, creating an opportunity to overcome the mistrust that developed following the Chernobyl accident in 1986 and the Fukushima disaster in 2011. These events contributed to the gradual closure of European nuclear power plants and to a 29% decline in nuclear power generation between 2006 and 2024.
The strategic mistake referred to by von der Leyen concerns precisely this aspect: the gradual abandonment of nuclear power at a time when renewable energy sources were not yet capable of guaranteeing energy security and price stability on their own, in an increasingly unstable international context. Against this backdrop, nuclear power is once again being seen not only as a tool for the energy transition, but also as a key element in strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy. The real challenge for the EU will therefore be to turn the energy crisis into an opportunity to build a more integrated common energy policy. While nuclear power cannot replace the development of renewable energy, it could help guarantee continuity of supply, reduce exposure to geopolitical shocks and strengthen industrial competitiveness, while at the same time supporting Europe’s decarbonisation objectives.
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