The Doel-1 and 2 extension file handed over to the CJEU (Belgium) 

The Belgian Constitutional Court (BCC) has decided to submit 9 preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the lifetime extension of the Doel-1 and 2 nuclear power plants, which was decided by the Belgian Federal Government in 2015. In other words, the BCC did not rule on the case and transferred it to the CJEU.



The main driver behind is that the BCC wants to anticipate the effects of a possible cancellation of the extension, a decision that would have important repercussions on the country's electricity supply. It asks then the CJEU whether it can, if necessary, maintain the effects of the extension in order to avoid legal uncertainty and to satisfy the obligations to assess environmental impacts and public participation.



In 2014 and 2015, Belgium reached two agreements with Engie and EDF to extend the operational lifetime of the nuclear reactors Doel-1 and Doel-2 (owned by Engie) and Tihange-1 (owned by Engie together with EDF Belgium), until 15 February 2025 and 1 December 2025, respectively. In turn, the companies committed to investing around €1.3bn in exchange for authorisation to run the plants for another ten years. However, the companies would receive financial compensation, if Belgium decides to close the reactors before the end of the ten-year period, modifies the level of nuclear tax to be paid by the owners or changes other economic parameters of the agreements.



In January 2016, Inter-Environnement Wallonie (IEW) and Bond Beter Leefmilieu Vlaanderen (BBL) filed a lawsuit to the BCC for the cancellation of the two agreements. They relied on the fact that the government did not perform an impact study or a public inquiry. In their view, the European legislation requires such procedures to be implemented before authorizing the prolongation or revival of nuclear reactors.