On March 7, 2012, The European Institute hosted a breakfast discussion on Germany's nuclear phase-out agenda and its commitment to renewable energy sources. R. Andreas Kraemer, Director of the Ecological Institute in Berlin, focused on the reasons behind Germany's gradual nuclear dependency reduction, as well as the process and challenges involved in the country's transition to renewable energy. A panel discussion followed with Edward McGinnis, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Nuclear Energy Policy and Cooperation at the U.S. Department of Energy and Günter Hörmandinger, Counselor for the Environment at the Delegation of the European Union, who outlined the U.S. and the EU's respective views on nuclear phase-out and alternative energy policies.