Hungary creates pollution watchdog for electric‑vehicle battery industry

Hungary will establish a new top authority to monitor and sanction polluting industries, focusing on the rapidly expanding electric‑vehicle (EV) battery sector. The proposal was announced by Tisza Party lawmaker Zsolt Tarkanyi and backed by Environment Minister László Gajdós, who warned that factories failing to meet environmental standards could be shut down. The move follows a recent suspension of Chinese battery parts maker Semcorp’s production licence after authorities detected large‑scale aluminium contamination in water near its Debrecen plant. Tarkányi plans to introduce reforms that tie pollution fines to a percentage of a company’s turnover, rather than fixed amounts. He cited repeated fines levied on Samsung SDI’s battery plant in northern Hungary as an example, noting that Hungarian police have opened several criminal probes into Samsung’s environmental and occupational violations. The new watchdog is expected to begin operations in September. The policy shift comes amid a broader political change after the April election, where opposition leader Peter Magyar defeated Viktor Orbán and pledged tighter regulation of the sector, which has attracted roughly €26 billion in foreign investment, chiefly from South Korean and Chinese firms.