The dispute between Spain and France over which form of hydrogen should qualify as green is heating up. The debate isn’t just political theater; it could quietly shape Europe’s energy future. At the center is H2Med, a proposed transnational corridor intended to move hydrogen across Europe. Recently, Spain, France, Portugal, and Germany reached a joint understanding about the project’s direction and scope, though the final path depends on broader EU decisions.
Earlier this week the European Commission signaled a preliminary stance: hydrogen produced using energy from nuclear power could be labeled as green. This position aligns with France, a country with a large nuclear fleet. Yet Spain, which has been vocal in favor of stricter green criteria, opposes the move. The Twenty-Seven member states and the European Parliament must still approve the proposal before it becomes official. The question remains whether this labeling would blur the line between renewables and nuclear energy in the hydrogen market (attribution: European Commission briefing, 2024).
Teresa Ribera, the Vice President and Minister of Ecological Transition, publicly challenged the idea. She warned that giving “favorable treatment” to France risks blurring energy categories and asserted that Spain will not concede. Her remarks were echoed in comments from Jean-Michel Casa, the French ambassador to Spain, responding in a public forum hosted by El Periódico de España and discussed by the press outlet group Prensa Ibérica (attribution: press forum reports, 2025).
The tension intensifies as France pushes to keep the energy field level between renewables and nuclear sources. The EU’s intention to harmonize rules for low-carbon hydrogen comes as momentum for H2Med continues, with the corridor envisioned to connect Portugal, Spain, and France and eventually extend to Germany. The initial concept allowed for hydrogen produced with renewable energy to travel from the Iberian Peninsula toward central Europe; discussions have opened the door to hydrogen generated from nuclear power being injected into the network as well (attribution: EU policy briefings, 2024).
France has long highlighted the need for bidirectional flow in energy transport. Official French statements now suggest that the corridor should accommodate hydrogen produced with electricity from nuclear reactors traveling toward Spain, arguing that the pipeline should not be restricted to a single directional move. This stance appeared in remarks to the same public forum and was noted by observers as a potential reversal of the project’s original one-way design (attribution: French official statements, 2025).
The French ambassador to Spain indicated that neither the bilateral agreement to launch H2Med nor the Barcelona summit declaration from January should be read as a one-way operation. In his view, real interconnections at this scale are inherently bidirectional, and that understanding shapes the operational expectations for H2Med (attribution: diplomatic commentary, 2025).
Will the route stay green all the way to Marseille?
The original plan, developed by Madrid, Paris, and Lisbon, envisioned a two-segment corridor connecting the Iberian Peninsula with France and beyond. Between Celorico da Beira and Zamora would lie the Spain–Portugal segment, and a second link between Barcelona and Marseille would bring the project toward France’s Mediterranean coast, with later expansion to Germany through a northern European grid. The goal remained to move green hydrogen produced from renewable energy—principally wind and solar—to the rest of Europe (attribution: project outline documents, 2024).
In December, Madrid, Lisbon, and Paris formally submitted H2Med as a candidate for a European “project of common interest,” with the proposed investment supported by EU financing. Official Spanish sources indicated the technical plan envisioned green hydrogen as the sole product transported, primarily to export renewable gas from the Iberian Peninsula to France, with no explicit intention to import hydrogen from outside the Iberian Peninsula at that stage (attribution: European Commission candidacy records, 2023).
Documents submitted to the Commission clarified that the gas transport channel would not be used to import hydrogen from France, and stated that hydrogen could be produced using electricity from French nuclear plants. They also noted that the initial design did not include compressors in the facilities, and officials signaled that Marseille could play a key role in steering the project toward bidirectional flow. As the network evolves, however, the possibility exists that hydrogen shipments may rely on non-renewable electricity in later phases, depending on how the corridor is expanded (attribution: project filings, 2024).
Nonetheless, the original intent remained clear: the managers of the national gas transport networks—Enagás in Spain, Teréga and GRTgaz in France, and REN in Portugal—were tasked with refining the project’s technical specifications. The process continues as these operators assess how best to align the pipeline’s capabilities with evolving EU rules and national interests (attribution: operator briefings, 2024).
Hydrogen production depends on electricity, whether from renewables or other sources. Green hydrogen uses electricity from wind, solar, and similar sources, while pink hydrogen results from electrolysis powered by nuclear energy. France’s reliance on nuclear power makes pink hydrogen a logical consideration for its industrial mix. This distinction has become central to policy debates, influencing how hydrogen is categorized and funded across member states (attribution: energy sector summaries, 2023).
The European Commission’s proposal to catalog hydrogen by low-carbon production methods aims to level the playing field for both green and nuclear-based hydrogen. The European Union’s Twenty-Seven have a narrow window to decide on the delegated acts accompanying the proposal. Spain has yet to issue an official position after reviewing Brussels’ documentation in depth, though authorities have not ruled out using all available channels to influence the outcome (attribution: EU regulatory overview, 2024).