Speech by President von der Leyen at the Nuclear Energy Summit

“Check against delivery”

Dear President Macron, cher Emmanuel, thank you for hosting this crucial Summit.

Presidents,

Prime Ministers,

Director-General Grossi,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Europe's electricity prices are structurally too high. This matters, enormously. Because affordable electricity is not only important for our citizens' cost of living, but it is also decisive for our industrial competitiveness. The industries of the future will be built on affordable electricity. Robotics and AI will drive the next wave of innovation and productivity, across all industrial sectors. And both require affordable electricity in abundance. That is why industrial competitiveness will increasingly be determined by whom best can produce, transport, store, and use abundant and affordable electricity.

But Europe is neither an oil nor a gas producer. For fossil fuels we are completely dependent on expensive and volatile imports, putting us at a structural disadvantage to other regions. The current Middle East crisis gives a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities this creates.

But we have home-grown low-carbon energy sources: nuclear and renewables. Together, they can become the joint guarantors of independence, security of supply, and competitiveness – if we get it right – now. Over the last decade, we have made great progress on renewables. Solar PV and wind have overtaken fossil fuels in the EU's power mix. And our European wind turbine manufacturers are global powerhouses. They are exporting high-tech made in Europe to the world. The nuclear story, unfortunately, is different. While in 1990 one-third of Europe's electricity came from nuclear, today it is only close to 15%. This reduction in the share of nuclear was a choice, I believe that it was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its back on a reliable, affordable source of low-emissions power.

This should change, for two reasons. First, because nuclear and renewables have a key role to play. This is not an either-or – it is in combination that they are most powerful. Because what we need is the best overall energy system – clean, affordable, resilient, European. Renewables produce the lowest-cost electrons – but they are volatile, depending on sunshine and wind, and sometimes the best sites are far from industrial demand centres. That is why we need to also invest in storage and in demand flexibility and build out our grids.

Nuclear energy is reliable, providing electricity all year, around the clock. So the most efficient system combines nuclear and renewables, and is underpinned by storage, flexibility, and grids. The second reason is that Europe has been a pioneer in nuclear technology and could once again lead the world in it. Next-generation nuclear reactors could become a European high-tech high-value export. And this is what brings us to Paris today.

In the last years, we see a global revival of nuclear energy. And Europe wants to be part of it. Last year, we changed our State aid rules to expand support for nuclear fission and fuels. We launched the world's first industrial alliance for small modular reactors and proposed to invest
over EUR 5 billion in our next budget on fusion research, notably through ITER.

But after years of declining investment, we need more to turn the tide. This is why today we are presenting a new European Strategy for Small Modular Reactors. Our goal is simple. We want this new technology to be operational in Europe by the early 2030s, so that it can play a key role alongside traditional nuclear reactors, in a flexible, safe, and efficient energy system.

We are proposing three main sets of measures. First, we need simple rules. We will create regulatory sandboxes so that companies can test innovative technology. And we will work with Member States so that rules are aligned across borders. The logic is clear. When it is safe to deploy,
it must be simple to deploy – all across Europe.

Second, we need to mobilise investment. Today I can announce that we will create a EUR 200 million guarantee to support private investment in innovative nuclear technologies. And the resources will come from our Emissions Trading System. Not only will we derisk investments in these low-carbon technologies, we also want to give a clear signal for other investors to join. This is one concrete step and part of a broader effort to improve the investment conditions for Europe's nuclear sector.

Third, this must be a joint European effort. The modular reactors' business model needs scale. So cooperation across European borders is vital. This is why we will work with Member States to align their regulatory frameworks, speed up permitting, and develop the skills the sector needs. Companies from Member States and trusted partners should also come together. For instance, they could co-invest in research, in testing facilities and in creating European value chains for nuclear fuels.

But our ambition is not limited to SMRs. We also need to strengthen the wider nuclear ecosystem – from fuel to technology, from supply chains to skills. This is also the purpose of our Clean Energy Investment Strategy – to lower energy costs, to accelerate the deployment of clean technologies and to open up more financing opportunities.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The nuclear tech race is on. But we know that Europe has everything it needs to lead. We have half a million highly skilled workers in nuclear – far more than the US and China. We lead global innovation in modular reactors. And now we have the ambition to move at speed and scale for Europe to be a global hub of next-generation nuclear energy.

Thank you.