European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during the opening plenary session of the Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. ABDUL SABOOR / AP
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday, March 10, described Europe's turn away from civilian nuclear power a "strategic mistake," arguing that the Middle East war had exposed the continent's fossil fuel "vulnerability." "It was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its back on a reliable, affordable source of low-emission power," she said at the opening of a nuclear energy summit just outside Paris as the US-Israeli war with Iran entered its second week.
"For fossil fuels, we are completely dependent on expensive and volatile imports. They are putting us at a structural disadvantage to other regions," she said at the summit, which aims to boost the use of civilian nuclear energy. "The current Middle East crisis gives a stark reminder of the vulnerability it creates," she added. "We have home-grown low-carbon energy sources: nuclear and renewables. And together, they can become the joint guarantors of independence, security of supply, and competitiveness – if we get it right."
French President Emmanuel Macron struck a similar note, saying civilian nuclear power helped provide energy sovereignty. "Nuclear power is key to reconciling both independence – and thus energy sovereignty – with decarbonization, and thus carbon neutrality," Macron said at the second Nuclear Energy Summit. "We can see it in our current geopolitical context: when we are too dependent on hydrocarbons, they can become a tool of pressure, or even of destabilization," he added.
