Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 27, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe EU Court of Justice may rule against Hungary's state aid for its Paks nuclear plant, favoring Austria's appeal on procurement rules.
(Reuters) - The EU Court of Justice should rule in favour of Austria in its appeal against the European Commission's decision to approve Hungary's state aid for the expansion of its Paks atomic plant, the court's adviser said on Thursday.
The court's advocate-general said Austria had been correct in arguing that the Commission should have examined whether the direct award of the construction contract to Russian company Nizhny Novgorod Engineering was compatible with EU procurement rules.
Opinions of the advocate-general are non-binding, but ECJ judges, who are expected to rule on the case in the coming months, typically follow the majority of them.
Austria launched its appeal at the European Union's top court in 2022 after the bloc's second-highest court dismissed Vienna's case.
Austria sued the EU executive in 2018 for its approval of Hungary's plan to build two new reactors at its Paks nuclear site, south of Budapest, with Russian help following Hungarian authorities' promise to take several measures to ensure fair competition.
Advocate-General Laila Medina said the award of the construction contract had been an "inextricable part" of the state aid, which the Commission should have taken into account.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Gareth Jones)
The main legal issue is Austria's appeal against the European Commission's approval of Hungary's state aid for the expansion of its Paks nuclear site.
Advocate-General Laila Medina stated that the award of the construction contract was an 'inextricable part' of the state aid, which the Commission should have considered.
Austria launched its appeal at the European Union's top court in 2022 after its case was dismissed by the bloc's second-highest court.
The construction contract was awarded to the Russian company Nizhny Novgorod.
No, the opinions of the advocate-general are non-binding, but the judges of the ECJ typically follow the majority of them.
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