Germany’s Highest Court Rules Nuclear Fuel Tax Is Unconstitutional

7 Jun (NucNet): Germany’s highest court ruled today that a nuclear fuel tax imposed on energy utilities was unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court’s verdict will allow nuclear operators RWE, Eon and EnBW to claim a tax refund that could run into billions of euros. The verdict overrules a decision by the European Court of Justice last year saying the tax did not breach European Union laws. The tax, introduced in December 2010, required the companies to pay €145 ($162) per gramme each time they changed a fuel rod, which usually happens about twice a year. Between 2011 and 2016 it yielded €6.3bn for the German budget. Eon said it had paid about €2.85bn, while RWE and EnBW claimed they had paid €1.7bn and €1.44bn respectively. However, the court in Karlsruhe today said parliament did not have the legislative powers to impose the tax and declared it retroactively null and void. Eon said it now expected a refund of €3.3bn, including the €2.85bn tax and interest of €450m, which it would use to strengthen its balance sheet. That in turn would allow it to proceed “as quickly as possible” with its plans to dismantle its nuclear reactors. Eon said the tax payments since 2011 had imposed “considerable strain” on its finances and the refund would have a “positive effect” on its net income, cash flow and net debt. RWE said it was analysing the judgement. The fuel tax was initially part of an agreement between the government and the utilities. In exchange for its imposition in 2010, they were allowed to extend the service life of their nuclear reactors. However, after the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident in Japan the following year, Angela Merkel’s government performed a U-turn, deciding to shut down all the country’s reactors by 2022, but it continued to levy the nuclear fuel tax.