Fight for Paks II: Austria's stage victory against Hungary's nuclear plans!

Fight for Paks II: Austria's stage victory against Hungary's nuclear plans!

In the controversial case, the state aid for the Hungarian nuclear power plant PACH II, the legal situation could change significantly. Austria recently achieved a stage victory after the general lawyer of the European Union's Court of Justice found that the EU Commission had not sufficiently checked the approval of aid for PAKS II. This aid is closely linked to the allocation of the order for the construction of new reactors to the Russian company "Nizhny Novgorod Engineering", which in itself raises questions about compliance with the EU's law, such as the Kurier reported .

The general lawyer argues that the EU Commission should have examined whether this direct award contract is permitted in accordance with the provisions of the EU's public procurement law. Patricia Lorenz, anti-atom spokeswoman at Global 2000, emphasizes that the law's criticism should also be applied to similar cases as that in Poland, where a direct assignment of order to the US company Westinghouse is also considered. This could create the basics for distortions of competition in the entire European market, Lorenz continues. It is also questioned whether the investment amounts of 12.5 billion euros given in 2017 are still up to date, which also weakens the arguments for state support. Austria legally acts against the prior judgment that approved the aid and calls for a re -evaluation of the entire situation, as reported by APA-OTS