Taxonomy Regulation - Austria's Lawsuit Rejected

The EU court in Luxembourg dismissed Austria's lawsuit against the classification of nuclear energy and gas as sustainable on Wednesday. At the beginning of 2022, the EU taxonomy regulation was expanded after long discussions. This aims to classify economic activities according to ecological standards and thus stimulate investments. Environment and Climate Minister Norbert Totschnig found the decision "regrettable" in an initial reaction.

Totschnig: "Will thoroughly examine the judgment"

"We were and still are of the opinion that nuclear power does not meet the criteria of ecological sustainability. Fossil gas will also only play a transitional role in the energy transition. We are very grateful to Luxembourg for supporting us throughout the entire process. Now we will thoroughly examine the judgment and then decide on possible further steps, including filing an appeal."

"Today, a purely politically motivated decision was confirmed. Because gas and nuclear energy were left out of the original taxonomy proposal for good reasons. Now they can be treated as sustainable investments under certain criteria. GLOBAL 2000 strongly criticizes this development," responded Patricia Lorenz, anti-nuclear spokesperson for the environmental protection organization.

No overstepping of powers detected

According to a press release, the court does not see any overstepping of the powers effectively conferred on it by the Union legislator in the inclusion of nuclear energy and fossil gas in the regulation for sustainable investments by the EU Commission. In particular, the Commission was entitled to assume that the generation of nuclear energy causes almost no greenhouse gas emissions and that currently no technically feasible and economically viable low-CO2 alternatives such as renewable energy sources are available in sufficient quantities to continuously and reliably meet energy needs, it said.

Certain investments in gas or nuclear power plants are considered sustainable if they use the most modern technologies and - in the case of gas - replace even more climate-damaging coal-fired power plants. The taxonomy regulation is particularly significant for the financial sector because it also determines which investments can be considered "green." Austria, which had already excluded the use of nuclear energy in 1978, wants the court to declare the regulation void. In June 2023, it had already dismissed the lawsuit of a German EU parliamentarian, as individual parliamentarians could not file a lawsuit here.

Appeal to the ECJ possible

The Republic put forward 16 grounds for the lawsuit. The EU Commission is accused, among other things, of "misjudging the risks of significant impairment of several of the protected environmental objectives due to severe reactor accidents and the highly radioactive waste." After the General Court's judgment, one of the parties to the proceedings can appeal to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

(APA/Red)

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