Feathers have been ruffled by the unearthing of a secret letter from the German Vice-Chancellor and Greens party member Robert Habeck to the then-French energy minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher in the summer of 2022.
It revealed that the German nuclear phase-out was only conceivable for Habeck at that time if his country could lean on French nuclear power.
The letter was revealed by the magazine Cicero on November 27.
Habeck, who as economy and climate minister presided over the nuclear phase-out, had written: “Dear Agnes, on the fringes of the Council of Energy Ministers, we discussed the energy situation in our countries.”
“You said that the French Government’s goal is to have 40 gigawatts of nuclear power on the grid by November 1, 2022 and 50 gigawatts by January 1, 2023. Can you confirm that I remembered that correctly?”
With the letter, he appeared to some to be fishing for more information about the French output, knowing that German energy production was set to take a heavy hit as a result of closing down its nuclear power plants.
Geheimbrief an Amtskollegin in Paris: Im Sommer 2022 fragte Habeck nach französischem Atomstrom, um den deutschen Atomausstieg zu retten. https://t.co/k9LOSAEl6k pic.twitter.com/COQGEa7ax5
— Daniel Gräber (@dg_graeber) November 27, 2024
Pannier-Runacher struck a different tone in her response to Habeck. Rather than “Dear Robert”, she opted for “Monsieur le Vice-Chancelier” (Mr Vice-Chancellor).
In her reply, she also pointed out her country’s disagreement with Berlin on how, she said, it tried to disadvantage nuclear power in the European regulatory framework in favour of “renewable energies”.
“In the same spirit of solidarity and mutual recognition of the different paths taken by our two states to achieve CO2 neutrality, the French authorities would like to see closer co-operation with their German partners in order to create a fair and balanced regulation in European law,” Pannier-Runacher wrote.
“The decarbonisation of the European energy mix must be a priority and at the same time strengthen our energy independence.”
In later interviews the former French energy minister pointed out: “The Greens [are] never troubled to use French nuclear power.”
“Each country must assume its responsibility to ensure its own supply and contribute to the stability of the European network,” she told German newspaper Handelsblatt in July 2023. “Germany risks becoming increasingly dependent on the nuclear energy of its neighbours.”
Habeck’s letter was seen as an embarrassing admission on the Greens’ part as it seemed the party wanted to keep the letter under wraps.
It only became public because Habeck’s ministry had to provide the letter to the current German Committee of Inquiry into the nuclear policy of the traffic-light government.
The committee was established to investigate Germany’s nuclear policy in the face of significant changes in the geopolitical landscape, particularly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Officially known as the Second Committee of Inquiry, it was formed on July 4, 2024, tasked with examining the German government’s decision-making processes regarding the national energy supply and the potential continued operation of nuclear power plants in light of these recent geopolitical developments.
Habeck had told the public in the summer of 2022 that Germany had a gas supply problem, not an electricity one.
But the letter seemed to underscore his acute awareness of the danger of an electricity shortage.
Ever since the 2010 adoption of the German “Energiewende” (energy turnaround) policy — the country’s long-term plan to transition to a climate-neutral energy system by 2045 — it has significantly increased its import of electricity from France, which gets 70 per cent of its electricity from nuclear sources.
At the same time as Germany was completing its nuclear phase-out, France had many reactors go off the grid for necessary repairs and updates.
Greens politicians jumped on this, alleging that nuclear power was unreliable but behind the scenes, it seems the Greens in the German Government were in 2022 pleading with the French to secure electricity from nuclear power plants in the upcoming winter.
Habeck’s office manager had also written: “I ask that the letter be treated confidentially and not forwarded.”
On November 27, Professor Manuel Frondel, an energy economist at the Leibniz Institute, told news outlet Bild that the German nuclear power plant exit was problematic “if you want to achieve the climate protection goals cost-effectively”.
On November 28, the Bundestag Committee of Inquiry into the 2022 energy crisis will summon the then-bosses of three nuclear power plant operators to answer questions about what they may have discussed with Habeck. The company heads are Markus Krebber (of RWE), Frank Mastiaux (formerly of EnBW) and Guido Knott (of Eon subsidiary Preussen-Elektra).
There are many doubts about whether the companies wanted to stick to the nuclear phase-out plan as Habeck and other Greens politicians portrayed it.
Experts have said they believed it would have been wiser to continue operating the safe and reliable nuclear power plants for several years given the war in Ukraine, which many predicted would lead to Germany being cut off from Russian gas and thus exposed to rising electricity prices.
In April, Cicero magazine said it found evidence that Habeck’s ministry used manipulated information to close down the last working nuclear power plants in Germany.
It claimed officials from the ministries for economics and environment advised the that continued operation of the atomic facilities should be considered but “green” activists within the ministries allegedly “played dirty games” to have such advice buried, the magazine claimed.
Top German government officials have been accused of manipulating information regarding the decision to close down Germany's last working nuclear power plants. https://t.co/Z9ye344jV0
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 26, 2024
