Belgium has officially ended its two-decade-long commitment to phase out nuclear energy. On Thursday, the Chamber of Deputies voted to repeal the 2003 law mandating a full nuclear exit by 2025, ushering in what Energy Minister Mathieu Bihet called “a realistic and resilient energy model.”
The bill received broad support in the plenary session, with only Ecolo-Groen voting against it. The Socialist Party (PS) and the far-left Workers’ Party (PTB) abstained. The legislation eliminates all reference to a mandatory nuclear shutdown and allows for a ten-year extension of existing reactors. It also creates the legal framework to build new plants, including small modular reactors (SMRs), pending an impact study.
The vote represents the culmination of a long political push by the liberal Reform Movement (MR), which has consistently advocated for nuclear energy. Christophe Bombled, who reintroduced the bill initially tabled by Bihet, described the moment as “historic” and “the result of a long-term and constant fight by the Reform Movement.” He added, “We are reopening the field of possibilities.”
As reported by La Libre, Belgium had already extended the operation of its two youngest reactors, Doel 4 and Tihange 3, through 2037 in a previous deal with energy company Engie. That agreement, however, did not alter the phase-out deadline for the country’s other nuclear production units. The new bill now leaves all timelines open to be extended indefinitely by the government.
Opposing the measure, former energy minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Ecolo-Groen) in the De Croo government, accused the governing coalition of staging a mere “communication operation” rather than presenting a coherent energy plan. “There is nothing on the table!” she told the chamber. Party co-leader Rajae Maouane added, “It’s a PR stunt, just hot air.”
Marie Meunier of the Socialist Party criticized the legislation as lacking substance, calling it a “symbol” that leaves “total vagueness” about Belgium’s long-term energy strategy. PTB MP Roberto D’Amico similarly dismissed the bill as a law being passed simply for the government to “boast in the press.”
Their respective parties, however, did not go as far as to vote against the measure.
Minister Bihet, however, called the repeal a transformative decision.
“The federal parliament has just turned the page on two decades of blockages and hesitations,” he said in a statement. “It is no longer a question of opposing energy sources in a binary and sterile way, but of using them with pragmatism and complementarity.”
“Belgium will be able to rely on its expertise to relaunch an innovative sector that creates skilled jobs in the service of the energy transition,” Bihet said. “This is not only an energy reform, it is a structuring decision for the economic, environmental, and strategic future of our country.”
C’est un jour historique : la Belgique acte le retour du #nucléaire dans son mix énergétique.
Notre pays fait le choix d’une approche pragmatique qui compose plutôt qu’elle n’oppose.
Une décision qui s’inscrit pleinement dans la politique énergétique définie par l’accord… pic.twitter.com/XLpmBHCQvS
— Mathieu Bihet (@BIHETMathieu) May 15, 2025
Writing on X, Bihet added, “It is a historic day: Belgium is confirming the return of nuclear to its energy mix. Our country has chosen a pragmatic approach that combines rather than opposes. A decision that is fully in line with the energy policy defined by the government agreement: a sustainable, sovereign energy future that drives socio-economic well-being.”
The move follows several other European countries seeking to boost their nuclear power output, including France, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. Germany, on the other hand, closed its nuclear power stations under the previous left-wing coalition government, although new Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to revive nuclear energy production in the country.
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