The EU Court of Justice annulls the European Commission's decision on state financing of the Paks-2 NPP in Hungary

The Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union has overturned the European Commission's 2017 decision to approve state aid for the Paks-2 NPP project in Hungary. This is reported on the website of the court's.

The contract for the construction of new power units was awarded without a tender to the Russian company Atomenergoproekt (JSC NIAEP) as part of an agreement with Russia.

Austria, which does not support the development of nuclear energy in principle, argued that such financial support distorts competition and ties Hungary to risky and overpriced nuclear technologies.

The court concluded that the European Commission, by approving the investment, ignored violations of public procurement rules and failed to explain why the direct award of the contract to the Russians without bidding was legal.

Hungary has already stated that the court's decision does not create "any legal obstacles to the continuation of investments in Paks according to the current schedule.".

At a briefing on Thursday, Hungarian EU Affairs Minister János Boca emphasized that the decision did not claim that the investment did not comply with public procurement rules, but only that the European Commission had not justified its position.

At the same time, independent Hungarian MP Benze Tordei said on Facebook that the decision means that the European Commission should reconsider the Paks-2 project.

"In the current situation, when one of the main goals of the EU is to abandon Russian energy, it would be unthinkable for Paks 2 to receive a new license," he said .

• The Paks NPP, located 100 kilometers south of Budapest, currently consists of four VVER-440 reactors that were commissioned between 1982 and 1987. In early 2014, Hungary signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of two VVER-1200 reactors by Russian companies and their international subcontractors, as well as on a Russian state loan of up to €10 billion to finance 80% of the project.
• The two new units of the nuclear power plant are planned to be connected to the grid in the early 2030s.