Vladimir Urutchev (PPE-DE). – Mr President, first I must commend Mr Reul for skilfully steering his report through about 200 committee-stage amendments to provide this House with a very balanced, consistent and honest report that is highly relevant to the challenges we face today and in the future. Many of those defeated amendments have reappeared at the last minute, and we in plenary must throw them out again. These amendments damage not only the report: in the end, they damage the environment that some of the proposals claim to represent.

I use the word ‘honest’ most deliberately, because Mr Reul has used real words like ‘coal’ and ‘nuclear’, rather than hiding behind the generalities of what might or might not be sustainable or renewable, and it is clear that we will continue to rely on burning fossil fuels for generations to come. Of course we support renewables. We do so because they provide necessary, clean energy. However, in most Member States, renewable energy can meet neither our environmental targets, nor our accelerated energy demands, nor our need to remain competitive in global markets. As responsible politicians, we must discard the dogmas of the past and recognise that all clean technologies have their role to play. Quite simply, we must retain and advance the nuclear share – and we will still not be doing enough. In my country, Bulgaria, we were needlessly required to close 2 000 MW of safe, clean nuclear power.