Europe's black and green stuff

Europe's energy supply mix is changing again. It won’t be good news for the climate targets

From the French love affair with the atom to the nuclear phase-out in Germany, from the carbon-free current in Sweden to the 80% coal electricity mix of Poland, the EU's energy market, despite all the efforts to build common policies, is still characterised as much by its variety as its commonality. This is not about to change, but the balance will probably shift as the three biggest European economies review their energy choices. Germany became the standard-bearer for energy transition in 2000 when the red-green coalition decided to replace nuclear power with renewable energy in 20 years. Germany's nuclear phase-out is now planned to end in 2022 and is likely to succeed: 11 of the 19 reacto