The European Commission (EC)'s Energy 2050 Roadmap stresses the important contribution of nuclear energy in achieving the EU's goal to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 whilst at the same time ensuring security of energy supply and promoting competitiveness.

The Energy 2050 Roadmap indicates that nuclear energy makes "a significant contribution to the energy transformation process" and is "a key source of low-carbon electricity generation." It also emphasizes that nuclear energy "contributes to lower system costs and electricity prices". The Roadmap analyses different scenarios in order to determine Europe's low-carbon energy economy by 2050. They are all based on the four ways of decreasing CO2 emissions: energy efficiency, renewables, nuclear and carbon capture and storage (CCS). During the press conference on the 2050 Roadmap, the Energy Commissioner, Günther Oettinger, said that "the central goal of the Roadmap is to reduce CO2 emission to near 0 by 2050." If we focus on that task alone, nuclear is perfect to perform it. He added that it was up to the Member States to decide whether they want to use nuclear technology to reach the targets set by the EU.

Nuclear currently contributes to around one third of EU's electricity and two-thirds of the EU's low-carbon electricity. Therefore, its role is crucial if Europe wants to achieve its low-carbon and competitiveness goals. Moreover, investment in nuclear energy is essential to maintain Europe's nuclear technology leadership.

For further information, you can read the press release of the European Commission and of FORATOM.