Austria’s legal fight against Hungarian nuclear reactors built by Russian companies is valid, the adviser to the EU’s top court ruled.
Back in 2017, Brussels approved a Budapest request to finance the construction of a new nuclear power plant, Paks II, in the heart of the country. It was to be built by a Russian company, Nizhny Novgorod Engineering. Austria sued and lost a lower court case in 2022.
Today, the advocate general of the Court of Justice of the European Union said Austria was right to sue because the 2017 state aid decision may not have been legal.
“Austria is correct in arguing that the Commission, when assessing the aid at issue, should have examined whether the direct award to Nizhny Novgorod Engineering of the contract for the construction of the new reactors is compatible with the European Union’s provisions on public contracts,” the adviser said in a statement.
The core argument: Brussels did not sufficiently account for the fact that Hungary was committed to having a Russian firm build the plant, supporting the Austrian case that the state aid was illegal.
After the court’s adviser presents their opinion, the judges are expected to rule within a few months – often before summer.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-top-court-should-rule-against-hungarys-nuclear-state-aid-adviser-says-2025-02-27/
