The announcement made at the start of the nuclear summit followed on the heels of another, when last week the French president, also echoing Charles de Gaulle, proclaimed the dawn of a new European nuclear era of “advanced deterrence”, which was accepted by Berlin, albeit reluctantly. “The point is that France really does need more energy because of its AI centres – needs that are clearly not being met,” points out Julien Hoez, a geopolitical analyst and editor of the French Dispatch – who, like Guimarães, also highlights the irony of von der Leyen having been part of the government that dismantled Germany’s nuclear fleet.
But it is not just about that, adds the French analyst. “When people think of nuclear energy, they associate it with armaments, and it is a fact that the two are inherently linked; for France, this is also an important way of ensuring that we can meet not only our own energy needs, but also those of our neighbours and allies, which effectively constitutes a powerful form of geopolitical influence.”
‘At last, Europe is putting a reliable, low-carbon alternative on the table’
At the Paris nuclear summit, von der Leyen was the first to describe the phase-out of nuclear power as “a strategic error” – and although she made no reference to Germany, that is by far the most glaring example of this error. “That is a very interesting point – this German reaction to nuclear power – in the sense that a significant proportion of the population continues to support the Greens and their aggressive anti-nuclear stance, bringing many politicians on board,” notes analyst Julien Hoez.