European Union countries agreed that the bloc’s flagship fund to wean regions off fossil fuels should not finance nuclear or natural gas projects, despite calls from some Eastern countries for gas to be eligible for EU funding, according to Reuters and Euractiv.com.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive, wants to set up a €40 billion Just Transition Fund, comprised of €30 billion from an EU coronavirus recovery fund and €10 billion from its budget for 2021-27.

The fund aims to encourage a shift from high-carbon industries that would help coal miners to retrain and find new low-carbon jobs, and support regions whose economies depend on polluting sectors to build new industries.

Ambassadors from the EU’s 27 member states agreed that the Just Transition “shall not support the decommissioning or the construction of nuclear power stations” nor “investment related to the production, processing, distribution, storage or combustion of fossil fuels,” according to a document.
The position is in line with the Commission’s, making it likely that the final Just Transition Fund will exclude nuclear and gas.

The proposal will be finalised following negotiations between member states, the Commission and EU Parliament, with the latter typically favouring ambitious climate change policies.