The European Commission rules against Greenpeace

News brief

ACTIVITIES / NUCLEAR POWER

April 04, 2008

The European Commission (EC) has ruled against Greenpeace last April 1, 2008. The environmental association contested the guarantees granted by Coface, the French foreign trade insurance company, to Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO). Greenpeace claimed that the guarantees granted concerning the EPR currently being built by AREVA in Finland contravened free trade rules.

The EC deemed that the action by Coface did not equate to State aid, and that TVO's decision to award the new reactor contract to AREVA was in any event taken before these guarantees were made.