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Germany, as the largest economy and the most populous nation in the European Union, has a significant influence on the energy policies of the EU. As the “economic engine” of the Continent, Berlin shaped the choices of both Brussels and various member states of the EU, in particular the neighbouring countries in Central Europe, which have a deep connection with the German market. In this way, any political decision from the German government, particularly those related to energy transition and climate change, has had far-reaching implications for the entire EU energy system. In the past few years, especially in the final spell of the long chancellery of Angela Merkel, Germany has been considered at the forefront of the EU energy policies and somehow shaped the European approach to the green transition, boosting investments on renewables on a large scale and supporting the EU Commission plans on such a matter. It is not a coincidence that Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission during the five years from 2019 to 2024 and now elected for a second mandate in Brussels, is a German politician who worked as a minister under Merkel for years. There is thus a direct connection between the policies applied in Germany and those that have been discussed and developed in the EU, although other important member countries, such as France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, contribute to shaping the decision taken in Brussels during the past decade on energy and decarbonisation.

Historically, Germany’s energy landscape has been heavily reliant on coal and nuclear power as a combination of two different energy sources and technologies. In recent years, the German government and basically all the main parties approved a concerted effort to shift towards renewable energy sources. This decision was primarily driven by environmental concerns and a desire to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, something that became a political necessity after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In such a perspective, the German government’s determination to phase out nuclear power by 2022 and, at the same time, accelerate the expansion of renewable energy sources has had a profound impact on the EU energy system. As the German citizens already witnessed, the programmed phase-out of nuclear power has led to a significant increase in demand for electricity from other sources, a dynamic that, together with the energy crises driven by the war in Ukraine, produced a spike in gas prices that slowed economic growth and economic production in the country. At the same time, Berlin’s decision has created opportunities for renewable energy producers, particularly solar and wind power. Furthermore, Germany’s investment in renewable energy infrastructure has not only helped to meet domestic demand but has also contributed to the EU’s overall energy mix.

The next German parliamentary elections, set in 2025, will probably have energy security and green transition as two of the most important topics in the political discussion. The agenda of the incumbent government has been in continuity with the latter executive, guided by Angela Merkel. The next elections will probably see the centre-right alliance of CDU-CSU gain the majority of the votes, with a conservative government making its way back to Berlin. The CDU-CSU alliance already declared that they think of reactivating recently decommissioned nuclear power plants in Germany if they win the next federal elections in 2025. Dismantling in some power plants has not yet begun, and the French energy company Framatome has confirmed that five nuclear reactors could be reactivated without complications and reconnected to the grid as quickly as possible, as MPs from the two parties stated in the past weeks.

Written by: Francesco Marino