Government to Challenge REPowerEU at EU Court over Planned Ban on Russian Energy Imports

Hungary will challenge the REPowerEU regulation, which makes Russian energy imports impossible, at the European Court of Justice, and the national government will fight against Brussels’ energy price increase dictate, said Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on Wednesday in Brussels.

The Minister stated that this draft legislation from the European Union would ban Member States from importing Russian natural gas and crude oil from 2027.

“It is impossible for Hungary to accept, implement, and comply with this dictate from Brussels. The fact is that this dictate from Brussels undermines Hungary’s energy security, because without energy sources from Russia, it is physically impossible to supply Hungary with sufficient crude oil and natural gas based on the remaining infrastructure. And it is not politically impossible, but physically impossible,” he argued.

“Accepting this dictate would result in certain market players and countries gaining a monopoly over Hungary. This would mean a dramatic increase in the price of energy carriers and a dramatic increase in the energy costs of Hungarian families.”

This Brussels dictate would mean that after its entry into force, the energy bills of Hungarian families would at least triple,”

he emphasized.

Péter Szijjártó pointed out that in recent weeks, Hungary had succeeded in obtaining an exemption from US sanctions against the Russian energy sector and had also managed to secure a guarantee of continued uninterrupted supply in Moscow.

“But we knew full well that, in addition to the agreements in Washington and Moscow, we would also have to fight in Brussels. And this fight is now coming to a head. Brussels is in the final stages of deciding to destroy Hungary’s energy security, destroy the reduction in utility costs, and put Hungary in a vulnerable position,” he emphasized.

“This dictate from Brussels is a decision made on political and ideological grounds (…) We must protect Hungary from this politically motivated decision, we must protect the Hungarian economy, and we must protect Hungarian families. And Hungary’s national government will protect Hungarian families from Brussels’ price increase dictate,” he added.

He then announced that as soon as the regulation is voted on in its final form, Hungary will immediately challenge it in the European Court of Justice, and the necessary legal work has already begun.

The Minister listed three arguments behind the lawsuit. First, the regulation is completely contrary to the EU’s founding treaty, which states that energy policy is entirely a national competence. Second, its adoption was “legal fraud,” as it is a sanction disguised as trade policy, which would have required an unanimous vote instead of a qualified majority.

“Thirdly, the European Commission wants to push through this dictate against its own impact assessment, because even the Brussels impact assessment clearly points out the incredible dangers of this dictate in Central Europe,” he said.

“The legal work is therefore ongoing. As soon as it is finally adopted in Brussels, we will immediately challenge this dictate in the European Court of Justice. We are not alone, as this dictate also poses a fundamental threat to the Slovaks, an attack on their energy security and economy, thus today we consulted on this issue with the Slovak Foreign Minister, who said that in their case, too, the government had decided to continue the fight against the dictate through legal means, so we agreed to coordinate the legal work in progress,” he said.

Via MTI; Featured photo: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter

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