France’s losing gambit in atomic chess

Copenhagen, Dec. 17, 2009: French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a plenary session of COP15 UN Climate Change Conference was all business (source: dpa)

General info

Location

France

Date

20 November 2015

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emissions Energiewende EPR European Pressurised Reactor Framatome Francois Hollande Muammar Qaddafi Nicolas Sarkozy nuclear power Rohingya Vladimir Putin

Author

Dr. Emmanuel Martin

GIS Expert Emmanuel Martin is the general manager of the French MOOC project “École de la liberté.” He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Aix-en-Provence in France. Dr. Martin has served as the director of the Institute ...

Energy is a potent currency in geopolitical relations. For an example, look no further than Europe, where France and Russia have been engaged in an unspoken struggle for primacy in the nuclear power industry. At first France took the lead, as Areva looked like a global champion that could potentially free Europe from its dependence on carbon-emitting fuels – especially Russian imports. Now, in a neat bit of irony, it appears that Russia’s Rosatom has gained the upper hand.

Rewind to late September 2009. French President Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2012) was in New York for pre-summit consultations before the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen. At the time, Mr Sa...