EU: Austria to sue EC over allowing expansion of Hungary nuclear plant

Austria said on Monday, January 22, it plans to sue the European Commission at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg for allowing Hungary to expand its Paks Nuclear Power Plant, according to reports. The Austrian government will ask the court to annul the ECʼs resolution approving the expansion.

“We in the government have agreed that there are sufficient reasons to sue,” a spokesman for Elisabeth Köstinger, the Austrian Federal Minister for Sustainability, Agriculture and Tourism, was cited as saying by Reuters. “EU assistance is only permissible when it is built on common interest. For us, nuclear energy is neither a sustainable form of energy supply, nor is it an answer to climate change.”

The Commission started a probe into state aid given to the Paks upgrade in November 2014, Hungarian state news agency MTI recalled. Last March it approved the project to build two new reactors, to be financed with the help of Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, after regulators said Hungarian authorities had agreed to several measures to ensure fair competition. The project is set to double the plant’s nominal capacity, with the first facility set for completion in 2025.

Reuters noted that in a majority of such complex cases, the European Court of Justice has found in favor of the Commission.

Full Content: Reuters

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