September 20, 2022, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Participation via Zoom

At least since Russia's renewed attack on Ukraine in February 2022, nuclear weapons, almost forgotten after the end of the Cold War, have once again been the cornerstone of Europe's security architecture. Discussions about the civilian use of nuclear energy are also taking place against the background of the fight against climate change currently a renaissance. Opportunity for the Franco-German strategic dialogue to pose the question of nuclear differences and similarities between the two partners.

Whether in the military or in the civilian area: nuclear issues harbor the potential for schism in Franco-German relations. Political and strategic worlds lie between France, a nuclear power with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, and Germany, which intends to take part in the 2022 Conference of the Parties to the Nuclear Ban Treaty as an observer and at the same time is committed to nuclear participation within the framework of NATO. But France and Germany are also setting opposite accents when it comes to the civil use of nuclear power: while Germany has almost completely phased out nuclear energy, France has announced the construction of numerous new power plants of a new type of reactor.

At the European level, the question of the nuclear component of a European security and defense policy arises within the framework of the strategic autonomy sought by both countries, which causes dissent among the member states of the European Union and the European part of NATO. In addition, on July 6, the European Parliament approved the European Commission's proposal to classify nuclear energy as "sustainable" as part of the EU's "Green Taxonomy" plan; This decision could reignite Franco-German tensions on the issue.

The event is a cooperation between the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS), the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, the Ernst Robert Curtius Center (CERC) and the Institut Français Bonn.

Discussion:

Dr. Tiphaine de Champchesnel
Researcher at the Institut de Recherche Stratégique de l'Ecole Militaire, Paris

Prof. Dr. Andreas Lutsch
Federal University for Public Administration
(Federal Intelligence Service Department)

Roland Freudenstein
Vice President, Head of GLOBSEC Brussels

Moderation:

Andreas Noll
Deutschlandfunk