Hungary plans new authority to police EV battery pollution

Hungary plans to establish a new central authority to oversee and penalise polluting industries, a senior lawmaker from the ruling Tisza party said, as the government moves to tighten regulation of the fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) battery sector.

Zsolt Tarkanyi, a lawmaker representing Debrecen, said the initiative is aimed at strengthening oversight of major industrial polluters following mounting environmental and public health concerns linked to battery manufacturing plants.

“What we as lawmakers can, and will, do is establish a new top authority to monitor and sanction these major potential polluters,” Tarkanyi said on Facebook late on Thursday, July 2.

Hungary became a key European hub for EV battery production under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who, from 2021, attracted around €26 billion in foreign investment, largely from South Korean and Chinese manufacturers, according to government data.

However, environmental, health and safety concerns surrounding the plants emerged as a major issue ahead of the April election, in which centre-right challenger Peter Magyar won a landslide victory over Orban after pledging stricter oversight of the sector.

In a marked policy shift, Environment Minister Laszlo Gajdos has warned that factories failing to comply with environmental regulations could face closure.

The move follows a late-June decision by a government office to suspend the production licence of Chinese battery components maker Semcorp after authorities detected significant aluminium contamination in water samples from monitoring wells near its plant.

Tarkanyi said the Semcorp facility in Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city, would remain closed “for a long time.” The city’s mayor has also faced pressure to resign over the issue.

Semcorp did not immediately respond to requests for comment on how an extended shutdown might affect its operations, but told state news agency MTI it had launched a comprehensive investigation into the causes of the pollution.

Gajdos, who visited Debrecen alongside Tarkanyi on Thursday, said the new regulatory authority could be operational as early as September and would enforce what he described as “extremely stringent” standards.

Tarkanyi also said he would propose reforms to change how environmental fines are calculated, suggesting penalties be set as a percentage of company turnover rather than fixed sums, in order to create a stronger deterrent.

He cited the case of Samsung SDI’s battery plant in the northern town of God, which was fined multiple times between 2022 and 2023 for exceeding emissions limits. Hungarian police have opened four criminal investigations involving Samsung since 2023, including a 2024 probe into environmental damage and occupational endangerment, and a 2026 inquiry into waste management violations.

Before the election, Samsung said its Hungarian plant — whose environmental licence was temporarily suspended — fully complied with environmental and safety regulations.

By Tamilla Hasanova