EU Justice Court Dismisses Austria's Claim To Contest Hungary's Investments In Paks NPP

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th November, 2022) The EU's Court of Justice on Wednesday dismissed Austria's claim contesting Hungarian investments in the Paks nuclear power plant (NPP) approved by the European Commission in 2017.

In 2018, Austria sued the European Commission for failing to ensure fair competition and said that Hungary's state aid for the NPP had violated the bloc's level playing field.

"Construction of new nuclear reactors: the General Court dismisses the action brought by Austria to contest Hungarian investment aid approved by the Commission," the judgment's title read.

The statement also said that the investment, which consisted of free-of-charge provision of new nuclear reactors to the Paks II NPP, was "financed by a loan in the form of a revolving credit facility of ��10 billion ($10.

3) granted by Russia to Hungary in the framework of an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy."

Paks, the only Hungarian NPP, is located 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Budapest and 5 kilometers from the city of Paks. At the moment, the NPP generates almost half of all electricity in the country, with the share expected to double due to the planned commissioning of two new NPP reactor units. The Hungarian leadership has stated that it always sees nuclear energy as a way to ensure the country's energy security.