EC PUBLISHES NEW STATE AID GUIDANCE TO SUPPORT GREEN TRANSITION
On 4 April, the European Commission updated State aid guidance to assist Member States in designing measures that contribute to the implementation of the European Green Deal, help end the dependence on Russian fossil fuels, and fast-forward the green transition as set out in the REPowerEU Plan. The measures will be included in their national Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs), in line with EU State aid rules.
For reference, in December 2020, the Commission published sector-specific guidance containing State aid guiding templates. The templates provided guidance as to when State aid may be excluded, when it would be involved but notification was not necessary, and when notification was necessary. The Commission stated that these guiding templates could have been updated if needed.
Fast forward to March 2023, after being approved by the European Parliament and Member States, the Recovery and Resilient Facility (RFF) Regulation was released to integrate dedicated REPowerEU chapters in Member States' existing RRPs, giving them until 30 April 2023 to submit their modified RRPs. The Commission introduced targeted updates for the design of new measures under REPowerEU chapters, which cover investments in energy and hydrogen infrastructure, renewable energy, district heating and cooling, energy efficiency in buildings, electric recharging stations and other low-emission transport modes.
The updated guiding templates can be found here.
Source: European Commission