The start of 2026 has seen a series of European decisions with direct repercussions on Hungary and on the manufacturing companies operating in the country. Most prominently, the European Commission has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on fused alumina imported from China, with rates ranging between 88.7% and 110.6% for five years. The measure concerns an EU market estimated at between 400 and 500 million euros and also affects Hungary, where industrial activities are present along the fused-alumina supply chain, a strategic input for steelmaking, ceramics, glass and advanced industrial applications. The stated objective is to reduce the EU's dependence on critical non-European supplies and to strengthen long-term industrial competitiveness.
On the front of critical raw materials, Brussels has closed the second call of the Critical Raw Materials Act, gathering over 160 applications for strategic projects in the sectors of batteries, rare earths, energy and defence. The selected projects will benefit from accelerated authorisation procedures and from facilitated access to European funding, strengthening the role of Central European countries in the EU's new value chains.
There have also been significant advances on the infrastructural and digital front. The Commission has presented the Digital Networks Act, which aims to create a single European market for telecommunication networks and to encourage investment in fibre and advanced mobile networks. For an economy such as Hungary's, strongly oriented towards industry and logistics, the strengthening of digital infrastructure represents a key factor of attractiveness for new investments.
Finally, the Council of the EU has adopted the new rules for the creation of European gigafactories for artificial intelligence, opening up opportunities for public-private partnerships and for the industrial and technological companies present in Hungary as well. To this is added a recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU, which has deemed incompatible with European law an additional mining tax introduced by Hungary, strengthening the framework of legal certainty for foreign companies operating in the country.
News reported in the newsletter Accade all'UE | January 2026, prepared by the Delegation of Confindustria to the European Union.
