On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that ahead of a Luxembourg meeting of EU energy ministers, France and Germany have been unable to come to a compromise on the amount of government subsidies which should be allocated to prolonging the life of nuclear reactors.

Given that attaining a deal which would scale up the use of renewable power is dependent upon an agreement between the two nations, the disagreement over the use of state-backed two-way CFDs (contracts for differences), for nuclear risks is now imperiling the region’s green agenda.

Germany has already completely phased out nuclear energy. However France continues to be heavily dependent on its aging nuclear power plants for electricity generation. Nuclear energy was responsible for 63% of France’s total electricity production last year.

France has accused other EU member states of seeking to diminish the role of nuclear power during the transition to renewable energy sources.

Agnes Pannier-Runacher, France’s energy transition minister said, “What some are trying to do is to structurally degrade the competitiveness of nuclear power to the benefit of renewables. We can’t end up with a zero-sum game”

At the same time, Germany is accusing France of seeing to impose changes on the bloc’s power market which would unfairly give benefits to its nuclear power sector, allowing it to undercut prices for electricity across the region.

Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck said, “The result for me is very disappointing. If we can’t agree on a level playing field for existing installations, then Germany can’t vote for this proposal.”

The deadline for the two European superpowers to come to an agreement is rapidly approaching, as it must be completed before next year’s EU parliamentary elections next year.