The NGO believes the project violates European directives on state aid, public procurement and electricity capacity tenders. Greenpeace added that if the upgrade is completed, it would restrict competition on the Hungarian and EU electricity markets, MTI reported.

The Austrian government on February 10 sent a formal letter of complaint to the European Commission outlining its objections to the Paks upgrade, Hungarian news agency MTI reported earlier. The Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office said in response that it was not surprised by Austria’s formal objection as it had earlier made similar complaints regarding a power plant in the United Kingdom.

Since coming under investigation by the EC, Hungary has failed to provide sufficient information supporting its argument that a planned upgrade does not confer the power generator with an unfair economic advantage, the European Commission said in a report released on January 12, although the government refuted the report, which describes concerns first officially flagged by the EC in November, according to MTI.