French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday urged Germany to follow France's example of relying on nuclear power for much of its energy needs.
"I would like France and Germany to have similar ambitions" in terms of energy policy, Sarkozy said after informal talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a castle in Meseberg north of Berlin.
He said he was speaking of "renewable" energy sources such as wind generators as well as nuclear power, which meets nearly 80 percent of France's energy needs.
Germany, under its previous conservative government, has promised to phase out nuclear energy gradually and mothball the last of its 17 reactors by about 2020.
Greenpeace expressed alarm at Sarkozy's attempt to overturn that pledge, and said the French leader would do better to follow Germany's example.
He "promotes nuclear energy as the way of the future and minimises the potential of renewable energy by mocking Germany's energy model," the environmental lobby group complained in a statement.
"The exaggerated place of nuclear energy in France's energy mix continues to prove an obstacle to developing renewable sources," it said.
