On 11 September 2025 the Court of Justice of the European Union annulled the European Commission's decision to approve state aid for the construction of Hungary's Paks II nuclear power plant. The court said the Commission "did not sufficiently assess" whether the state funding complied with EU law and failed to examine whether the direct award of the contract breached public procurement rules — a point the court deemed necessary because the direct award was tied to the granting of state aid. #EU #Hungary #Paks

Austria had appealed to the EU's highest court after losing at a lower instance that in 2022 upheld the Commission's 2017 finding that Hungary's measures did not violate state aid rules. Austria — a long-standing opponent of nuclear power — first challenged the aid in 2018 and lodged the cassation appeal now accepted by the Court.

Paks, about 100 km south of Budapest, has been operating since 1982; its four reactors supply roughly 50% of Hungary's electricity. Under a contract with Russia's Rosatom, Hungary planned two new reactors that Moscow said would be delivered in the early 2030s. The ruling highlights scrutiny of Hungary–Russia energy cooperation and legal compliance with EU procurement and competition rules. #FiatNews