The controversial Hinkley Point B nuclear power station and Hinkley Point C construction site in Somerset has become a big issue between the United Kingdom and Austria. UK Ministers have warned the Austrian government that they will not think twice to use retaliatory measures should Austria challenge an EU State Aid decision that approved subsidies for new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset
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The Austrian Embassy in London to Vienna’s diplomatic cable saw UK Foreign Office’s Europe Director Vijay Rangarajan convey a message that the UK will use every opportunity to sue or damage Austria in areas with strong internal political effects.
The message conveyed the following
A complaint to the European Court about Austrian electricity labeling rules.
Pressure for Austria to contribute more to EU effort to share funds where nuclear power is not considered a “sustainable energy source”.
Investigate whether Austira’s suit violated the Euratom Treaty.
According to the diplomatic cable, escalation cannot be excluded after the complaint was submitted.
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann seeks to talk with British Prime Minister David Cameron at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday after Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond called Austria’s Foreign Secretary Sebastian Kurz to protest Austria’s planned court action.
“The chancellor has made clear that Austria will not act under pressure, and will of course make use of all legal means at her disposal,” a spokesman for chancellor Faymann told the Guardian. “Issuing threats is a kind of behaviour we don’t want to see among partners in the EU.”
