European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has acknowledged that the bloc’s nuclear phase-out was a “strategic mistake” The EU’s decades-long retreat from nuclear energy was a “strategic mistake,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has admitted, stating the bloc must now rebuild the industry. Speaking at the Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris on Tuesday, von der Leyen noted that nuclear’s share of EU electricity production has collapsed from one-third in 1990 to just 15%