Advocate general’s opinion supports MOL case in EC appeal
Budapest, January 22 (MTI) – An advocate general of the European Court has issued an opinion supporting the case of Hungarian oil and gas company MOL in an appeal by the European Commission.
European Court of Justice Advocate General Nils Wahl said in an opinion published on Thursday that mining royalties under an agreement with the government was not state aid. According to Wahl, MOL’s competitors also had the opportunity to sign similar agreements with the government but they did not take this up.
The opinion is not binding but prior experience suggests the court will be strongly influenced by it.
In a decision taken late in 2013, the court annulled a 2010 resolution by the EC ordering Hungary to recover 30.3 billion forints (EUR 96m) in illegal state aid to MOL. The court said there was no data to show MOL had received favourable treatment compared with its competitors with regard to mining royalties.
The EC ordered MOL to recover the aid in June 2010. It found in an investigation that an agreement between MOL and the government in 2005 fixed mining royalties for most of the company’s fields in Hungary until 2020. Although royalties were raised by an amendment to the Mining Act in early 2008, MOL continued to pay the same royalties agreed on earlier, the EC said.
The EC has appealed the court’s decision to annul its resolution regarding the recovery of state aid.
Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters
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