French Commissioner Séjourné asks the Czech Republic for a postponement of the contract signing for Dukovany

Prague – The Vice-President of the European Commission (EC), Frenchman Stéphane Séjourné, has requested in a letter to the Czech Republic to postpone the signing of the contract for the construction of two new nuclear blocks at the Dukovany power plant. According to the Commission’s spokesperson Thomas Regnier, the EU executive is currently investigating whether the Korean company KHNP, which won the tender, has received foreign subsidies that could distort the internal market of the European Union. The signing of the final agreement for Dukovany was blocked last week by a preliminary injunction from the Regional Court in Brno based on a lawsuit from the French company EDF, which was unsuccessful in the nuclear tender. Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) stated today in response that Séjourné’s letter is not the position of the EC.

“As far as I know, it is a letter from the European Commissioner, it is not the position of the European Commission and it has no binding effect on us. Much more serious for us is the preliminary injunction issued by the court, which orders us to wait with the signing of the contract until a decision is made on the lawsuit,” Fiala said. The letter was sent by the Executive Vice-President of the EC for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy Séjourné to Czech Minister of Industry Lukáš Vlček (STAN) at the beginning of May. Vlček confirmed today that the ministry has not received any official letter from the EC regarding the postponement of the contract signing for the construction in Dukovany, only a courtesy letter from the Commissioner, he said.

Czech European Commissioner Jozef Síkela (STAN) does not want to publicly comment on Séjourné’s letter until he discusses the matter directly with the French European Commissioner. He responded to this today at a press conference titled Europe as a Task at Prague Castle. He plans to speak with the Vice-President of the Commission on Tuesday.

The EU executive has already initiated a preliminary review to assess whether potential foreign financial contributions received by the Korean company constitute foreign subsidies, and if so, whether these foreign subsidies distort the internal market. The review concerns compliance with the regulation on foreign subsidies (FSR) distorting the internal market from 2022. In this context, the EU executive emphasizes that it “does not prejudge the final decision,” however, it is preparing a decision to initiate a deep investigation, the letter states. “We are not yet at the stage of initiating a deep investigation, and I would not want to prejudge whether we are preparing to do so or not,” the EC spokesperson responded today. “This is definitely not a request to suspend the matter,” the spokesperson emphasized. The letter, which CTK had the opportunity to view, indirectly speaks of a postponement and its subject is titled: “Request for Immediate Action to Suspend the Signing of the Contract for New Nuclear Reactors in Dukovany.”

In last year’s domestic nuclear tender, KHNP was successful, and the government preferred its offer over those of EDF and Westinghouse. The first block in Dukovany is expected to be completed in 2036. The construction of new nuclear blocks in the Czech Republic is expected to be the largest domestic contract in history. The costs for the currently preferred construction of two reactors in Dukovany at current prices amount to 407 billion crowns. The head of the Czech energy company ČEZ Daniel Beneš said today in response to the letter that the French side is not interested in winning the dispute over the completion of Dukovany, but in preventing the power plant from being built in the Czech Republic. Minister of the Environment Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) does not consider the timing of the EC letter to be coincidental, nor the fact that it was sent by the French Vice-President. (May 12)