EU member states to sue Brussels for classifying fossil fuel gas and nuclear power as ‘green energy’

Controversial ‘taxonomy’ has caused anger in some countries

Flames burn blue from a natural gas-powered kitchen stove in Berlin, Germany (Getty Images)

EU member states are to take legal action against the European Commission after it decided to count natural gas and nuclear power as green energy.

The European Union's executive controversially included the two fuels in its "taxonomy" this week – opening the door to more investment in them.

The rules spell out what can be classed as "environmentally friendly" for the purposes of investing, an increasingly valuable category when it comes to attracting capital.

Critics accused the Commission of "greenwashing" the fuels, which emit carbon and produce long-life radioactive waste respectively.

But Commission officials say the two fuels are only included in the plans subject strict conditions: a CO2 emissions limit for gas and for nuclear, a requirement to have a plan and funding for dealing with waste.

Now two member states, Austria and Luxembourg, have said they will challenge the policy proposal in the courts.

Austrian minister for climate protection Leonore Gewessler, a Green, said the Commission was satisfying the “wishes of the nuclear power lobby" and said his government “will bring a lawsuit to the European Court of Justice".

Meanwhile Luxembourg’s minister for energy Claude Turmes said: “Luxembourg strongly reaffirms its opposition to the inclusion of nuclear and fossil gas in the decision on EU Taxonomy for ‘sustainable’ finance of the EU Commission. We will consider further legal steps together with Austria.”

The European Council and Parliament could yet object to the Commission's move, but blocking it would require the agreement of 20 of the 27 national leaders or a majority in the parliament.

The decision highlights the different approaches to green energy in different member states. Germany, which has significant political heft at EU level, relies heavily on gas, while France produces most of it electricity from nuclear energy.

Some of the bloc’s eastern states including Poland still rely heavily on coal power. Other countries, like Spain – which is also against the decision – have invested heavily in renewable energy.

Energy commissioner Mairead McGuinness said the inclusion of gas and nuclear was important because "we need to use all the tools at our disposal" to reach the climate-neutral target. She said private investment was “key”.