State aid: Commission invites comments on revision of Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy

The European Commission is inviting comments from interested stakeholders on certain aspects of the Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy, in view of their planned revision. The Guidelines enable Member States to finance projects to enhance environmental protection and energy generation adequacy, subject to certain conditions. They ensure that public measures contribute to the achievement of objectives of common European interest such as decarbonisation, while avoiding undue distortions of competition in the Single Market. The Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy, whose validity has been prolonged until 31 December 2021, have been evaluated as part of the “fitness check.” As outlined in the Commission Staff Working Document that the Commission recently published, the  “fitness check” showed that the environmental and energy rules have so far facilitated a more effective and less distortive deployment of State resources to improve environmental protection and achieve the objectives of the Energy Union. However, they need to be further adjusted in light of new technologies and novel support types, as well as the Union’s recent environmental and energy legislation and policy. The public consultation published today takes the form of a questionnaire covering different aspects of the future review, in particular relating to the interplay of the Guidelines with the implementation of the European Green Deal. Stakeholders can provide their feedback on the Commission’s Better Regulation Portal until 7 January 2021. At the same time, the Commission has published an Inception Impact Assessment outlining its initial ideas for the revision. The Commission plans to launch a public consultation on the draft text of the revised Guidelines in 2021.