The statement quoted in the source was purely political. There was no analysis or demonstrated understanding of nuclear power on his part, probably because he has none.
I'll go through it in smaller steps.
He's an EU commissioner. It's an five-year, appointed position, appointed by the Commission President who is elected by the member states. In the EU structure, this is where each state has its say as a national government. Each of the 27 Commissioners is assigned responsibility for specific policy areas by the President.
His duties as a commissioner:
"The Commission represents and upholds the interests of the EU as a whole. It oversees and implements EU policies by:
proposing new laws to Parliament and the Council
managing the EU's budget and allocating funding
enforcing EU law (together with the Court of Justice)
representing the EU internationally, for example, by negotiating agreements between the EU and other countries."
http://europa.eu/about-eu/institutions-bodies/european-commission/index_en.htmHe does not set EU policy. Period. This is intended to be a position for a technocrat, so by making those statements cited in the source he was overreaching. He made even more egregious overreaching in the comments concerning social policy that I mentioned. He also used the same rhetoric.
I intended simply to make his right-wing, pro-big business bias clear by mentioning just the latest controversy in the German press. They are ripping him to shreds right now, but all of the best sources are in German.
Look into his past and you'll see no climate activism or study of energy topics. When he took the post he was a CDU hack who probably knew less about energy than most of the regulars in E/E.
On 24 October 2009, Angela Merkel's new centre-right government chose Oettinger to be a Commissioner in the European Commission taking office on 10 February 2010. The same day he ceased to be Minister President of Baden-Württemberg.
In a leaked diplomatic cable from the United States embassy cable entitled "Lame Duck German Governor Kicked Upstairs as New Energy Commissioner in Brussels," Deputy Chief of Mission in Germany, Greg Delawie notes that
"Chancellor Angela Merkel nominated Baden-Wuerttemberg (BW) Minister President Guenther Oettinger as EU Energy Commissioner primarily to remove an unloved lame duck from an important CDU bastion." Before going on to claim "Oettinger is noted for a lackluster public speaking style, and some commentators have asserted that Merkel, who has often stood out at EU meetings, wanted to appoint a German Commissioner who would not outshine her."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnther_OettingerNeed more overreaching and right-wing nuttery? Why not, it's entertaining.
Oettinger suggested that heavily indebted countries should fly their flag at half mast outside EU buildings. As a result several MEP's have written a letter of protest to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, demanding for an apology or his resignation. Once again, Oettinger backed down, saying he did not support the idea of flying flags at half mast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnther_OettingerAnd what about his energy legislation submitted to parliament?
Safety standards for offshore oil and gas drilling.
Proposed EU-wide standards for fracking and gas extraction (very much a booster)
Proposing an LNG terminal in Finland
Pushing a Caspian Sea gas/oil pipeline
Opposes tariff on Chinese solar panels, but has done nothing to stop the dumping.
There's more, but overall it's less than impressive. But he did manage this week to piss off and insult Bulgaria and Romania by calling them "ungovernable".
The bigger question I'm wondering is why he got a headline with that statement in your source. Member states determine their own energy mix, as Oettinger himself said, and as it should be. He has nothing to do with it, nothing at all. And it wasn't news. So why then was it beefed up and posted to a stock market blog?
I've noticed the WSJ does this sort of thing on nearly a weekly basis, that is using or misusing an easily misunderstood European source to support their business position. You sure you're not being gamed?
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