Op-Ed: “When is a Public Procurement Procedure ‘Inextricably Linked’ to a State Aid Measure Whose Compatibility is Being Assessed by the Commission? Austria v. Commission (C-59/23 P)”

By its judgment of 11 September 2025, the Court of Justice set aside the judgment of the General Court of 30 November 2022, Austria v Commission (T‑101/18) and quashed Commission decision (EU) 2017/2112 of 6 March 2017 concerning State aid SA.38454 – 2015/C (ex 2015/N) which Hungary is planning to implement for supporting the development of two new nuclear reactors at Paks II nuclear power station.

The background of the case has already been described here, here, and here as well as in the Court’s judgment (paras 6-10).

As the Court recalls in its judgment, it is well-established case-law that ‘the procedure under Article 108 TFEU must never produce a result which is contrary to the specific provisions of the Treaty. Accord