N-VA chairman Bart De Wever believes that Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Green) should be removed from the nuclear energy dossier. “Tinne Van der Straeten negotiates to fail,” said De Wever on Sunday in Het Nieuws on VTM.
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In recent days, the discussion about nuclear energy has flared up again. The French energy company Engie, which operates the nuclear power stations in our country through Electrabel, has sent a letter to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo asking that Belgium co-invest in the extension of the latest nuclear reactors and also pick up the bill for the decommissioning of the other nuclear power stations.
Since last spring, De Croo has been negotiating with Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten with Engie about the conditions for the extension of Doel 4 and Tihange 3, which the government decided in March to keep open for another 10 years.
According to N-VA chairman Bart De Wever, the Vivaldi government has handled the file completely wrong. He especially points the finger at Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten and the Greens. “I would like to participate in the participation and get our power stations back into our own hands. But then you have to extend the nuclear power plants for a realistic period (De Wever suggests a term of 20 years, red.) and you have to negotiate to succeed. Tinne Van der Straeten negotiates to failure. That’s pretty much it,” said De Wever.
The N-VA chairman believes that the Green minister “should be removed from the file” and that Prime Minister De Croo should take over the file. “It is the last chance or we will lose the power stations, with all the consequences that entails for supplies, the price for the consumer and the climate. The Greens seem obsessed with dirty, expensive gas plants. Van der Straeten does not tell the truth either. It will also take more than she says. It also counts on imports from France that will not be there. She has to get rid of the file”, says De Wever.
The N-VA chairman believes that De Croo should, if necessary, expel the Greens from the government. “We are prepared to supply a change majority,” said De Wever. “We don’t ask for anything in return. I want to approve that tomorrow.”
Greens deny
Ecolo Member of Parliament Samuel Cogolati — © BELGAIMAGE
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In the program Sundays are not everyday on RTL-TVi, Ecolo MP Samuel Cogolati denied that the Greens would want to make the negotiations fail. “We want to bring these negotiations to a successful conclusion,” said Cogolati. He referred to the agreement approved by the Vivaldi parties in mid-March, which contains agreements on security of supply. “But there can also be no question of a blank check to Engie-Electrabel and the Belgian taxpayer should not have to pay for the radioactive waste.”
Former Energy Minister Marie Christine Marghem (MR) is concerned about the success of the negotiations. For example, the MR politician referred to the leaking of Engie’s letter. According to Marghem, her party also supports the principle of “the polluter pays”, but Marghem does not rule out a government participation in the two power stations, a participation that, according to her, “does not exclude the company from being taxed” nor that the government participates. can “take advantage of the excess profits in this period of high prices”.
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