The European Court of Justice on Tuesday dismissed Austria’s appeal to block the construction of the Hinkley Power C nuclear power station in Somerset, UK. The court upheld the General Court’s decision that the project is in line with the rules of the EU on state aid.

The European Commission had approved the UK Government’s decision to construct the power plant in 2014. Austria had pressed a case against the Commission’s decision, but the case was dismissed by the EU General court in 2018. Austria filed the appeal, alleging that the decision infringed the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Article 107(3)(c) of the TFEU states that any aid may be declared compatible with the internal market if it aims at the development of an activity that constitutes a public-interest objective and it is appropriate, necessary and not disproportionate. Austria contended that nuclear power station does not constitute an objective of common interest. The court ruled that Austria’s argument was “unfounded.”

Additionally, while examining the condition that “the planned aid must not adversely affect trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest,” the court held that the Commission is not required to take into account any negative effects other than the negative effects of the aid on competition and trade between Member States. The ruling further said that, “A member state is free to determine the conditions for exploiting its energy resources, its choice between different energy sources and the general structure of its energy supply, and which does not preclude that choice from being nuclear energy. The United Kingdom was free to determine the composition of its own energy mix.”