On Sunday, MR's party president Georges-Louis Bouchez indicated that an agreement would soon be reached between the federal Government and Engie on the extension of the Tihange 3 and Doel 4 nuclear reactors' lifespan. This comes a couple of weeks late, as the government had intended to iron out the details of this extension by the end of 2022.
Throughout 2022, Belgian politics was marked by nuclear negotiations, as the Federal Government had to contend with both party infighting and a demanding Engie with regards to extending their most recent nuclear reactors.
In March, the Federal Government had decided to extend by 10 years the Tihange 3 and Doel 4 nuclear reactors, which are run by Engie. They had done this to better equip the country's energy supply, after having agreed to no longer import Russian gas as a result of the war in Ukraine.
However, ideological divides within the government, as well as Engie's prerequisites, slowed down the finalisation of an agreement, the details of which were supposed to be ironed out by the end of 2022.
Related News
- Engie disputes extra €3.3 billion demand by Federal Government for nuclear phase-out
- Government to propose 'micro-extension' of Belgium's nuclear reactors
- Calls to extend nuclear reactors anger Belgian green parties
That being said, the French-speaking liberals MR's party president Georges-Louis Bouchez stated his belief on Sunday that an agreement was "only a few centimetres, even hours away" from being reached between the Federal Government and Engie.
Bouchez stated this at a meeting between MR members in Charleroi, for which he thanked "our party's work." In any case, he said that "it was high time" for an agreement to be reached even if his prediction ends up being false, as "the deadline was set at 31 December and today were are 39 December."
