【By Observer News, Wang Yi】On September 11 local time, the European Court ruled to overturn the European Commission's previous decision to approve the construction of a new nuclear reactor at the Hungarian nuclear power plant in Russia, citing that it was unclear whether the Hungarian government had awarded the contract directly to Rosatom, the Russian state atomic energy company, without an open tender, complied with EU public procurement rules.

The UK's Financial Times pointed out on the same day that this ruling came at a sensitive moment when the EU has been continuously pressuring Hungary's Prime Minister Orbán to reduce dependence on Russian energy. On the other hand, Hungary's attitude towards the ruling is clear: there is no legal reason to stop the Paks Nuclear Power Plant project from proceeding.

The European Court stated in its ruling that when approving the plan to subsidize two new nuclear reactors, the European Commission should have considered the EU's public procurement regulations, and "the Commission believed it was compliant, but did not provide sufficient reasons."

Paks Nuclear Power Plant Paks II Official Website

Facing the court's ruling, Hungary stated that the project would proceed as planned and is prepared to cooperate with the European Commission to prove that it complies with EU public procurement and state aid regulations.

János Bóka, Hungary's Minister for EU Affairs, said on September 11 at a press conference, "The European Court did not find the project in violation of public procurement rules, but only found the reasons insufficient." A few years ago, a procedure confirmed compliance, but this procedure was not used as the basis for this ruling.

"There is no legal reason to prevent the Paks investment from proceeding at the current pace," Bóka emphasized.

The European Commission responded that it will "carefully study the judgment and consider the next steps."

The Paks Nuclear Power Plant is the only nuclear power plant in Hungary, located about 100 kilometers from Budapest. Since the 1980s, the plant has operated four Russian-made nuclear reactors, which have met nearly half of Hungary's electricity needs.

The Financial Times reported that unlike other Central and Eastern European countries that have turned to Western technology, Hungary has insisted on cooperating with Russia. In 2014, Hungary signed an agreement with Rosatom to prepare for the construction of units 5 and 6 at the nuclear power plant. The new units will be equipped with advanced VVER-1200 reactors from Russia, and it is expected that the power generation capacity will double after they are put into operation.

The project is led by Rosatom, while also inviting international companies such as France and Germany as subcontractors, but the core part of the two new reactors will still be built by Nizhny Novgorod Engineering Company, a subsidiary of Rosatom in Nizhny Novgorod.

According to a report by Sputnik News on September 11, Russia provided a 1 billion euro (approximately 8.33 billion yuan) state loan for the Paks II project in Hungary, and the total cost of the project will reach 1.25 billion euros.

In 2017, the European Commission approved Hungary's subsidy for the project. In late August 2022, Hungary issued a license to Rosatom for the construction of the second phase of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant's nuclear reactors.

However, due to various reasons, the Paks Nuclear Power Plant project has repeatedly been delayed, and the current plan is to complete it in the early 2030s.

This article is exclusive to Observer News. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7548848402407227913/

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