State Aid

Today EGEC sent a letter to the European Commission Executive Vice President on the European Green Deal, the Executive Vice President for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age and the Commissioner on Energy. This letter was asking for the implementation of a fair framework for State Aid, that allow European Member States to support the development of innovative technologies and the market uptake of geothermal energy, notably in the heating and cooling sector.

Bundesverband Geothermie e.V and EGEC  wrote to the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) outlining concerns around subsidies for incumbent fossil fuel providers in the proposed new Bundesförderung effiziente Wärmenetze (BEW) programme.

The European Commission will review and update the EU State Aid framework for energy and environment by the end of 2021.

EGEC Members are invited to provide feedback by 07/01/2021 to the European Commission questionnaire on the review of the State Aid Guidelines. This questionnaire notably looks to identify the most relevant ways to direct state aid to the efficient market uptake of renewable energy technologies.

EGEC welcomes the European Commission’s call to revise its competition policy that will support the successful implementation of the European Green Deal.

The State Aid Guidelines on Energy and the Environment were initially release to adapt the rules on public support for the energy sector from a competition law perspective to reflect notably the framework of the 2020 EU Climate and Energy objectives. The purpose of this review is to put the State Aid framework in line with the 2030 Clean Energy for All European package, and reflect the changing market dynamics in the energy sector.