As war continues to rage in Ukraine, do we need new sanctions targeting Russian gas? For Gilles Vanden Burre, “the absolute priority is to be able to respond to the surge in prices in Belgium. Russia’s aggression on Ukraine is completely dramatic and has an impact on this surge. New sanctions can therefore still happen. But they must not target the Russian people, they must affect Putin and his oligarchs. Any sanctions once morest the ‘Putinian’ regime must be put in place.”
“In a global energy framework, Ecolo has 3 priorities: lowering the bill (by reducing the VAT on gas and electricity to 6%) with a reform of excise duties, investing even more massively in renewable energies (independence of Belgium is in our natural resources, we must invest in the wind, the sun, biomass, etc. and be 100% renewable energy by 2050”, explains the federal deputy.
But for that, do we have to phase out nuclear power in 2025? “There is a plan A which provides for it with the construction of 2 gas-fired power plants, all the permits have been granted and all the lights are green. But there is also a plan B which provides for the maintenance of the last 2 nuclear reactors the less ancient. This second plan, it must now be looked at in an open and objective way.”
Maxime Binet then questions Gilles Vanden Burre on a possible exit of Ecolo from the government if we maintain 2 reactors: “No”, it is not or no longer on the agenda. By March 18, the government must decide definitively on the exit from nuclear power.
“We must consume better”
The deputy Ecolo then insists on the attitude of the liberal president: “At MR, they have changed their minds, they have become pro-nuclear. It is their right. But the way in which Georges-Louis Bouchez expresses himself in systematically denigrating (on Twitter) the words of the Minister of Energy, the words of the Ecolo ministers, I find that this is not at the level of responsibility that we should have today. We therefore call for a serene debate and responsible. Creating hysteria around the debate, as the president of the MR does, is irresponsible. It is not up to the challenge.”
“We are still aiming for 2050 to go 100% renewable in Belgium. This is required by the European Union. To achieve this, we must invest massively in renewable energies. Currently, we are at 20% energy production via renewables. Around 2030, we should reach 45%, thanks in particular to wind power from the North Sea. And there is also investment in the insulation of buildings. We must consume less and therefore better.”
“There are therefore intermediate stages to reach this horizon”, recalls Gilles Vanden Burre. “Plan A, with the temporary construction of TGV gas power stations for 10 years. Or plan B which maintains the 2 oldest nuclear power stations, namely Doel 4 and Tihange 3. The other 5 power stations are too old.”
“Both from the point of view of safety and from the point of view of waste, nuclear energy poses a problem. To continue in nuclear power is to continue to stock up on uranium. It is not knowing what “We’re going to make waste and it’s having problems in terms of security. It’s not a sustainable energy,” said the MP.
“Soaring prices? There is a social emergency”
In the second part of the interview, Maxime Binet talked regarding soaring fuel prices. Currently, a liter of gasoline costs almost 2 euros. “For us, this is a major concern,” says Vanden Burre. “It can tip some of our citizens into precariousness. It is therefore a social emergency. By the end of the week, the beginning of next week, there is a global energy support plan that will be put in place. by the federal government. And the priority for environmentalists is to lower the bill.”
But how? “We must extend the social energy tariff, more structurally and minimum until the end of the year. We must lower the VAT to 6% on gas and electricity, with a transformation of taxation with a system of much more mobile excise duty. And for the ticket at the pump, there is the reverse ratchet mechanism that we support.”
A red card for the PTB, a green card for Sarah Schlitz Gilles Vanden Burre delivered a red card to the two political parties which did not unanimously condemn Putin’s aggression once morest Ukraine. Namely the PTB and the Vlaams Belang. The green card goes to Sarah Schlitz for her proposal to set up an automatic fund for maintenance claims, for single mothers who cannot make ends meet at the end of the month.
