German CSU Leader Söder’s Radical Shift in Energy and Economic Policy May Come to Fruition if the Union Takes Government Responsibility
In addition to a radical shift in migration policy, the CSU leader, CSU party chairman and Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, has also announced a drastic change in economic and energy policy, should the Union take over the government responsibility. According to an interview with the “Handelsblatt”, Germany should build new gas power plants and “examine its own gas production instead of relying on expensive fracking gas from the US”.
Söder emphasized that without nuclear power, it would be impossible to maintain the industrial prosperity. The energy demand will significantly increase in the future due to the rise of artificial intelligence, digitalization and electric mobility. “We must adapt to this and it is not just a matter of sun and wind” he said.
Existing nuclear power plants will be reactivated. “We can also cooperate with partner countries like France and the Czech Republic and secure a privileged access to nuclear energy” Söder explained. In the long run, “the construction of small, next-generation reactors at existing sites is a feasible idea”.
Söder’s statements signal a significant departure from the current energy policy, which focuses on renewable energy sources and may spark controversy within the party and beyond.