Ladies and gentlemen,

Members of the General Assembly,

Dear colleagues,

It is a pleasure to be with you at this second General Assembly of the European Industrial Alliance on Small Modular Reactors.

First, congratulations to you all.

So much has been achieved since the first general assembly last year.

We stand on the brink of endorsing a bold strategic action plan.

A plan that will help us reach our goal of deploying the first SMRs in Europe by the early 2030s.

I know this will require extraordinary efforts from all participants today.

But from what Ive seen, I know we can do it.

The Technical Working Groups have made great progress.

And the technical work on the first batch of SMR projects flagged for support by the Alliance is progressing as well.

These projects set a standard for EU startups and innovators.

And well hear more about them this afternoon.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I believe we are at the brink of a nuclear renaissance, a much needed one, and most of the key people to make it happen are here in this room today.

SMRs and AMRs can be cleaner – and safer – than todays nuclear power plants.

And they can be “made in Europe”.

Some of them will recycle their own nuclear fuel to reduce nuclear waste.

Such concepts were once science fiction.

But now they are becoming a science fact.

With your work, they are about to become an industrial, manufacturing fact.

Innovations like these are key to securing our energy independence, and to reaching our climate goals.

Which is why the Commissions Clean Industrial Deal sees nuclear power as a key part of decarbonisation.

With your collaboration, Europes energy transition is underway.

And this calls for a robust European framework for nuclear development.

We need the entire industry to play its part: established players, startups, regulators, and educational institutions.

I am confident that together we can do it.

Here, I want to emphasise the role of research and innovation in realising these goals.

The Euratom programme is providing 30 million euro for research into SMR safety.

And the next Euratom Work Programme – which we plan to adopt by the end of this year – will support 5 European collaborative projects on SMR safety.

Safety is key to allowing Member States to make nuclear power a part of their energy mix, if they choose to do so.

On top of this, the European Innovation Council is playing a crucial role in gathering deep tech investors, who have now co-invested over 2.6 billion euro in 270 deep-tech companies.

Also, a 300-million-euro call will support the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform.

This call will catalyse essential scaleup finance in the range of 50 to 150 million euro per company.

We are also looking to mobilise capital to help companies scale here in Europe.

Ladies and gentlemen, Europe is unique in the quality and interconnectedness of its research infrastructure.

This drives breakthroughs that make a difference to peoples lives.

Our policies strengthen the impact of research infrastructures throughout the entire innovation cycle.

Our Startup and Scaleup Strategy is reinforcing knowledge transfer in research infrastructures, including for nuclear research.

And we will soon launch new measures to support industry access to Europes research infrastructures.

Including the European strategy on research and technology infrastructures and the European Innovation Act.

In 2 days, on Wednesday, the Commission will present its proposal for the next Euratom programme, which is one of the main arms to support R&I and training across the nuclear field, including SMR related projects.

I urge you all to spread the word in your countries of the crucial role of research in the nuclear field, and the key role Euratom plays in supporting it.

As you see, there are many exciting measures in the pipeline – or should I say: in the reactor.

Ladies and gentlemen, the work ahead of us is considerable.

We have set ambitious targets, both for action and timeframe.

And we must meet these targets with collaboration and commitment.

We have laid a solid foundation for the future of SMRs in Europe.

Now lets endorse this strategic action plan so that we can reach our goal to be the worlds first climate-neutral continent.

I thank you for your dedication and commitment – and for staying in your seats this close to lunchtime.