PRESS RELEASE
STOP GREEN GREED
Seventeen European countries call for a full, transparent and democratic assessment of European Union energy policy
Brussels, 23 September 2026 – On 9 September, citizens, associations and groups from 17 European countries (Germany, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Czechia) gathered at Place du Luxembourg, in front of the European Parliament. Through 25 speeches and an expert conference, EU CHARADE called for European energy choices to be assessed on the basis of their full costs, their effects on electricity networks, transport, infrastructure and electricity markets, and their consequences for health, biodiversity, landscapes, heritage and purchasing power.
EU CHARADE does not dispute the need to reduce emissions or preserve resources. However, the European citizens’ platform asks for technologies to be compared without bias, using verifiable data, and for their public benefit to be demonstrated before further large-scale investment. This requirement applies especially to wind and ground-mounted solar energy, whose output varies and depends on weather conditions. Integrating them also requires electricity networks, balancing systems, storage and back-up capacity.
NATIONAL EXPERIENCES POINT TO THE SAME CONCERNS
Despite the diversity of national situations, the accounts presented in Brussels highlighted shared concerns: rising electricity system costs, competing uses of land, damage to landscapes and heritage, pressure on biodiversity, health concerns, and citizens being excluded from decisions that directly change their living environment.
Infrastructure linked to intermittent renewable energy, particularly wind and ground-mounted solar installations, has major local effects: it occupies land, changes landscapes, places demands on local electricity networks and affects nearby communities first. Because of where it is installed and the effects it creates, this energy is also local. European targets therefore cannot be implemented without complete information, effective public participation and decision-making powers for the affected regions and communities.
FOUR AREAS OF EXPERTISE, ONE SHARED REQUIREMENT: ASSESS THE FULL COST
The conference held after the rally brought together specialists in economics, resources, heritage, landscapes and health. François-Xavier Bellamy MEP, who attended in Brussels, invited the speakers and participants to turn these findings into practical proposals.
Professor Alain Ayong Le Kama stressed that every energy policy must be assessed on the basis of its full cost, including network, balancing and support costs, as well as the value of environmental, health and local impacts. He described as economically illogical – and unlike any situation in other sectors of the European economy – a system in which costs and risks are largely borne by society while profits remain private.
Thomas Mock drew attention to an issue rarely covered in environmental assessments: indirect value-chain emissions, known as ‘Scope 3’. He highlighted the large quantities of concrete, steel, copper, composite materials, rare earth elements and metals needed to manufacture and install wind turbines. Equipment used to produce intermittent renewable energy therefore relies on the extraction and processing of resources that are not renewable. EU CHARADE asks for these upstream impacts, as well as dismantling and end-of-life impacts, to be included in every comparison of energy options.
Francesco Pratesi and Julien Lacaze highlighted the weaknesses of heritage and landscape protection measures in the face of the increasing scale of installations. They recalled that cultural and natural heritage is a European common good and that its degradation cannot be treated as a secondary impact.
Dr Ursula Bellut-Staeck presented research findings on infrasound and its potential biological effects, particularly on blood vessels, the brain and the heart, as well as concerns about embryonic development. She stressed that increasing turbine power, height and rotor diameter could increase exposure. Yet assessments still rely largely on standards and data from older generations of wind turbines: there is not yet enough specific scientific evidence on the newest and most powerful machines. EU CHARADE therefore calls for independent research suited to the current size of both onshore and offshore installations.
FOUR EUROPEAN WORKING GROUPS
At their meeting on 23 September, EU CHARADE members decided to continue the Brussels campaign through four European working groups:
• Heritage and landscapes: propose legislative changes so that national and European protections reflect the size and combined effects of today’s installations.
• Biodiversity and health: collect available data, identify gaps and call for independent research programmes; where knowledge is insufficient in the face of serious or irreversible risks, propose applying the precautionary principle, potentially including a targeted moratorium.
• Economics and purchasing power: establish the full cost of the different options, verify their public benefit and identify the causes of the rising overall cost of the European electricity system.
• Democracy and subsidiarity: replace the top-down approach with technological neutrality, transparent information and real decision-making powers for local authorities and communities.
EU CHARADE’S CALL
EU CHARADE calls on the European institutions and national governments to publish independent comparative assessments covering the entire life cycle, direct and indirect emissions, network and balancing costs, raw material requirements, and health, environmental, heritage and social impacts.
Questioning the public benefit of investments, making all costs and risks visible, and restoring decision-making powers to local communities are essential conditions for rebuilding trust. Because wind and ground-mounted solar energy is local, its development must remain proportionate and must be accepted by the local population.
EU CHARADE PRESS CONTACT
BOUR Nicolas retm@retm.fr +33 6 84 50 07 90 Pierre-Emmanuel PICARD contact@ventdesmaires.fr
Who is EU CHARADE?
EU CHARADE (European Union Citizens for a Human and Rational Approach to Decarbonation and Energy) is a transnational citizens’ platform created through cooperation between local groups, elected representatives, engineers, lawyers and scientists committed to an energy transition that respects democracy, reason and physical realities. The network brings together opposition emerging across Europe to centralised, one-size-fits-all policies that are often disconnected from regional realities. It has two aims: to return energy decisions to citizens and to ensure that the energy transition sacrifices neither biodiversity, the sovereignty of local communities nor the coherence of technical choices. Through advocacy, citizen action and practical proposals, the movement seeks to restore meaning to European energy planning.
Our first action in June 2025 In June 2025, EU CHARADE held its first action, also at Place du Luxembourg. Citizens from across Europe gathered behind their national flags and the European flag and spoke with one voice through a simple message – ‘A waste of public money – we can stop it’ – to denounce the waste of public money caused by wind and ground-mounted solar energy.
