France has requested approval to finance six EPR2 nuclear reactors and is still waiting for the green light from Brussels, whereas Germany's request to support 12 GW of gas-fired power plants was validated.
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The French file is at the stage of a formal in-depth investigation (Article 108(2) TFEU) opened in March 2026; an in-depth investigation is a standard procedural step for novel aid types (first nuclear CfD-style support), not a refusal or a finding of incompatibility.
The two schemes are not the same type of aid: Germany's is a capacity mechanism paying for available back-up capacity (available from 2031), whereas France's is support for the construction and operation (investment/revenue stabilisation) of six reactors.
The German 12 GW figure refers to the tendered volume of new dispatchable capacity under the power plant strategy (most of it gas-fired, hydrogen-ready, with 10 GW subject to a long-term hydrogen criterion); the approved mechanism is a capacity mechanism rather than a construction subsidy.
No source found explicitly reports the status of the French file in October 2026; the latest documented status is the opening of the in-depth investigation in March 2026 and no subsequent Commission approval decision was located.
Sources confirming the German approval (EC press release, Clean Energy Wire) were published in September 2026, shortly before the session date.