GREENS in Europe are to refer back the decision on the funding for Hinkley C to the EU Commission.

They will ask Margrethe Vestager, commissioner in charge of competition, to revisit the decision in light of the news that the Government is seeking a “golden share” in the project and the likely pull-out of Areva, the French-owned company with a 10 per cent stake.

Greens argue that the deep uncertainty and confusion around the financing of Hinkley means fundamental changes to the terms of the agreed state aid and that the deal must now be referred back.

Molly Scott Cato MEP said: “The total shambles over funding for Hinkley explains why the deal was not signed at the end of February as previously agreed.

“It is now clear that there are fundamental changes to the basis on which the state aid determination was made by the commission in October 2014.

“For this reason Green MEPs are today calling on commissioner Vestager to re-examine the decision reached by her predecessor, Mr Almunia.

”The announcement that Greens were to refer the decision back to the commission was made at a conference held in London today on Hinkley and nuclear at which a panel of energy experts and Green MEPs ‘dismantled’ arguments for nuclear being a sustainable energy source and made a strong case for renewables providing the UK’s energy needs.

Claude Turmes, Green MEP from Luxembourg, a country that has joined Austria in a legal challenge against Hinkley, said: "Recent studies show the huge levels of public funding that nuclear energy is benefiting from. We call on commissioner Vestager to open a broad sectoral investigation on state aid in the nuclear sector.

“We need to ensure that all external costs related to decommissioning and waste management are no longer a debt for future generations of taxpayers but borne by the nuclear industry."