The Bundestag’s investigative committee has invited German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and several government members to testify about the decision to abandon nuclear energy.
The committee aims to determine how thoroughly the government weighed the pros and cons of such a step.
Germany has been without nuclear energy for almost two years, ever since the decommissioning of the Neckarwestheim 2 power plant in April 2023, which marked the end of a process initiated during Angela Merkel’s chancellorship in response to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.
Given the dramatic shift in circumstances in 2022, when Europe faced the urgent need to reduce its reliance on Russian gas, Germany’s ruling coalition reopened debates on whether to fully proceed with the phase-out. Ultimately, the nuclear power plants were decommissioned, albeit with certain deadlines postponed. The investigative committee is now evaluating the rationale and soundness of this decision.
The CDU-CSU bloc has accused “green” ministers Steffi Lemke, head of the Ministry of Environment, and Robert Habeck, of prioritizing “green ideals” over the actual situation in 2022.
With early elections on the horizon, the committee has limited time to complete its work and has expedited its activities. Around 40 individuals are expected to be called to testify, a significant reduction from the several hundred initially planned.
