Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s right-wing Lega Nord (Northern League) political party, said he plans to organise a petition to force a consultative referendum on reintroducing nuclear energy, press reports have said.

Mr Salvini said the League “is ready to collect signatures for a referendum which will bring our country toward an independent, safe and clean energy future,” tying the effort to the European commission’s recent draft policy that would give nuclear energy a climate-friendly label for investors as part of Europe’s sustainable finance taxonomy.

Before the pandemic in 2019, the price of electricity was about 25% higher in Italy than in France, which generates about 70% of its electricity from 56 nuclear plants. Further energy price increases are making matters worse; power prices are expected to jump 55% in the first quarter of this year, according to energy watchdog Arera.