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The Commission adopted new Guidelines on environmental protection and energy state aid for the period 1 July 2014-31 December 2020. The Guidelines were adopted in the form of a Communication and will apply to all notified aid measures on which the Commission will decide after 1 July 2014, even where the funding projects were notified earlier. The Communication was accompanied by a Press Release and a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). The Guidelines replace the Commission's 2008 Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection, and now include detailed rules regarding State aid in the energy sector.
This report provides input for the evaluation of the State aid rules related to environmental protection and energy, with a particular focus on the EU Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy (EEAG) applicable in 2014-2020 and on the provisions applicable to aid for environmental protection and energy (Section 7) of Commission Regulation (EU) 651/2014 (GBER). The overall objective of the report is to provide background information for the review of these provisions. The topics covered in the report are related to the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of the State aid rules.
Europe’s energy State aid guidelines no longer reflect the market reality and need to be carefully revised. This study looks at the existing rules and provides recommendations for the revised guidelines to effectively contribute to accelerating the decarbonisation of Europe’s economy. It calls on the European Commission to pursue a combined approach that looks at reinforcing both common objectives and specific State aid measures. Since the approval of the latest Guidelines for State Aid for Energy and Environmental Protection (EEAG) in 2014, the EU institutions have agreed to accelerate the decarbonisation process to reach a climate-neutral economy by 2050. This strong impetus heavily influences the energy market where we see new economic models and types of actors emerging, and where there has been significant technological progress over the past years. The energy and environmental protection State aid guidelines no longer reflect the market’s reality and need to be revised carefully. As Brussels is about to kick off the revision of the EEAG, this report provides recommendations for new rules that effectively contribute to fast-tracking the transition towards low carbon energy systems in a cost-efficient way. Above all, Brussels should align the new rules with its 2030 climate and energy transition targets. “The EEAG reform should combine approaches that look both at common objectives and specific aid measures. This requires a significant evolution of the current regime whilst ensuring smooth continuity. Defining clear criteria to assess the contribution of a specific State aid measure to the ‘common interest’ is of utmost importance. The revised EEAG should strengthen these assessment criteria, including for specific aid measures. They must promote technology neutrality and consider the energy system’s resilience. Among the assessment criteria, the application of the proportionality test should be improved.” - Catherine Banet, author of the report The Guidelines are part of a bigger ecosystem of rules. The EEAG work in close interaction with the general block exemption Regulation (GBER) which allows the Commission to exempt prior State aid notification – and approval – in specific cases. This has proven to be efficient and should be maintained. If, during the review, a different approach is chosen, it may impact the entire architecture of the hard and soft law ecosystem of the EU state aid regime. The Clean Energy Package for All Europeans is a driver of the reflection behind the revision of the Guidelines. The scope of application of the EEAG should reflect and build upon the provisions laid down in this package. At the same time, the new Guidelines have the challenging task of anticipating the impacts of moving climate targets from the European Green Deal and the upcoming rules to achieve them, such as the revised renewable energy directive, the revised alternative fuels infrastructure directive, the implementation of the sector integration strategy and the Hydrogen strategy. Finally, enforcing the rules is just as important as setting the right rules. The report notes that, on several occasions in its recent case law, the Court of Justice of the EU has reversed some of the European Commission’s approval decisions, with major impacts on markets. The revised Guidelines should be set and applied so as to eliminate the risk of reversals of the Commission’s decisions as much as possible. “The COVID-19 crisis is just one example of the deep uncertainties and changes our society is going through. Europe should be prepared for more disruption. We need to build a more resilient energy system that can cope with such unexpected external shocks. The energy state aid Guidelines should be an integral part of a long term sustainable recovery roadmap.” - Catherine Banet, author of the report.
The elements of infrastructure – roads, transportation, electricity, water, communications, schools, hospitals – are so ingrained in the fabric of daily life that few people give a second thought to who provides them, and how. Yet, they are controlled by an extensive and complex regulatory system. Moreover, the EU’s State aid modernization plan has made infrastructure a crucial aspect of competition law. How did EU State aid law turn into regulation on whether a city can build a new airport, or how it may operate a school? And what do the rules actually mean for infrastructure funding? These are the questions this book, the first comprehensive guide to EU State aid law in this key sector and a major contribution to the debate on the topic, seeks to answer. In its thorough review of the legal literature as well as relevant legislation and case law, this book covers such aspects of the infrastructure-State aid nexus as the following: – role of infrastructure in competition law; – infrastructure funding as aid and its compatibility with the internal market; – impact on land development and other ongoing activities; – sector-specific impact of State aid regulation on the design of infrastructure projects; – risk management; and – newer infrastructure sectors such as sports and cultural and healthcare projects. At many points in the presentation, the case-by-case analysis provides individual appraisals. In addition to focusing on the complex rules and how they have been interpreted in the decisional practice of the Commission and in the EU case law, this book provides deeply informed proposals for reform. This is a key work in a field of EU law that has developed and changed dramatically in recent years. It is sure to be of immeasurable value to practitioners and jurists in State aid law, competition law, and public procurement, as well as market actors (aid beneficiaries and competitors), policymakers, government officials, and business persons in these fields.
The recent State Aid Modernization has decentralized the enforcement of State aid law. In particular, under the General Block Exemption Regulation a number of aid schemes do not require the preventive “check” by the European Commission, while national courts play a growing role in private enforcement of State aid law. This insightful book analyzes the enforcement of State aid law in the aftermath of the State Aid Modernization, identifying a number of emerging trends at the national and EU level.
Rules controlling State aid and subsidies on the EU and the WTO level can have a decisive influence on both regulatory and distributive decision-making. This field of law has grown exponentially in importance and complexity over the past decades. Rules on State aid and subsidies control are one of the key instruments to ensure that public spending and regulatory measures do not lead to discriminatory distortions of competition. As a consequence, hardly any part of national law is free from review under criteria of State aid and subsidy regulation. In turn, State aid and subsidies law is linked to economic, constitutional, administrative law of the EU and the Member States as well as to public international law. This book brings together leading experts from academia, the judiciary, civil servants from the European Commission, and practising lawyers to provide expert opinion and commentary on the diverse dimensions of the complex and vital area of law. Critically analysing and explaining developments and current approaches in State aid law and subsidies, the chapters take into account not only the legal dimensions but also the economic and political implications. They address the EU law applicable to State aid in the aftermath of the recent State Modernisation reform, and coverage includes: an in-depth analysis of the notion of State aid as interpreted by the Court's cases-law and the Commission's practice; the rules on compatibility of State aid with the internal market; the rules governing the procedure before the Commission; the litigation before the Court of Justice of the European Union; and analysis of the other trade defence instruments, including WTO subsidy law and EU anti-subsidy law.
If an EU industrial policy can be said to exist, its contours may be found in the complex and evolving concept of State aid. Because approaching any State aid issue can be fraught with multiple and sometimes conflicting interpretations, an in-depth analysis of the rationales, initiatives, and regulations that constitute the State aid system is much needed. In response to this need, this book provides a fine-grained clarifying context through which recent reforms, policy shifts, and judicial decisions concerning State aid can be understood and applied to specific situations. Focusing on the impacts of landmark cases and policy developments leading up to a deeply informed critique of the current State Aid Modernisation Programme, the authors cover such issues and topics as the following: – linkages to other established and evolving EU common policies and common strategies; – effect of EU State aid rules in the expanding geopolitical regions of EU influence; – interaction with the WTO Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreement; – the problem of a ‘subsidies culture’; – how the European Commission’s notion of ‘bad’ State aid has evolved; – effect of EU policy imperatives (e.g., environmental goals) which implicitly argue for increased subsidisation; – nexus with EU tax harmonisation; – competition among undertakings versus competition among Member State policies; and – nature of the quasi-devolution of regulatory responsibilities to EU Member States. This book is a crucially important source of both theoretical enlightenment and practical wisdom that will greatly enhance confident progress through any legal matter involving EU State aid rules. It will prove of immeasurable value to practitioners, in-house counsel, policymakers, and academics for many years to come.
EU competition law plays a central role in the process of European integration both as a multifaceted tool for creating and policing the internal market as well as in organising national markets. Yet as a consequence of this role it is also subject to increasingly complex demands, a proliferation of (sectoral) regimes, and multiple objectives at both an EU and national level. This profligacy entails risks of fragmentation and divergence - which could jeopardise the proper functioning of the internal market. In this examination of EU competition law, Wolf Sauter discusses three main issues: (i) what degree of coherence exists in EU competition law; (ii) how this coherence can be explained, particularly in the broader context of integration by EU law; and (iii) how it contributes to the legitimacy and effectiveness of EU competition law. Specific focus is placed on antitrust, while mergers, state aid control, as well as the sectoral regimes for energy and electronic communications are also examined. In addition the book also charts the history and framework of these competition regimes that jointly constitute EU competition law, defining both its objectives and limitations.
Many states – including European Union (EU) Member States – subsidise energy producers in order to guarantee the uninterrupted availability of affordable electricity. This book presents the first in-depth examination of how these so-called capacity mechanisms are addressed in EU law and how they affect the functioning of the EU energy markets. Focusing on the existing legal framework as well as the new provisions of the Clean Energy for All Europeans package for capacity mechanisms, the author addresses and analyses such aspects as the following: the structure and functioning of the EU electricity markets; EU’s competence to address security of supply and Member States’ margin of discretion; sector-specific rules for security of supply; legal conditions for subsidising generation adequacy; capacity remuneration under the EU State aid regime; free movement rules that address generation adequacy measures; balancing different interests of EU energy law in the context of generation adequacy; and the requirement of proportionality in State intervention to ensure generation adequacy. The analysis draws on relevant sources of EU law (treaties, regulations and directives) as well as the case law of the European Court of Justice and the General Court, together with soft law instruments such as Commission guidelines. Scholarly sources include not only legal literature but also work on energy policy, energy engineering and energy economics. As a detailed analysis of how capacity mechanisms address issues arising in the context of the enegy transition – and how the system of EU law applicable to capacity mechanisms should be interpreted to further the objectives of EU energy law – the book will help policymakers and legislators in Member States to understand the changing legal setting for capacity mechanisms. Lawyers, academics and other professionals who deal with EU electricity markets in the EU and beyond are sure to welcome its detailed description and analysis.
This Handbook of European Environment and Climate Law is the 2nd edition of the work previously titled Handbook of European Environment Law. It is associated with the Traité de droit européen de l’environnement et du climat and the Manuel de droit européen de l’environnement et du climat, both in the French language and published in the same collection, and with which it shares a same structure. The Traité provides a more in-depth approach, with further historic, policy and caselaw considerations, and more complete references. The introduction in the book’s title of the climate dimension, while it was already quite present in the previous edition, is testimony to its growing importance absent a dedicated EU policy and corresponding legislative basis. Climate law is covered in its many occurrences along the work, its specificities noted, and their consequences recognized, especially with respect to the international background which brings about novel legal interventions, an upheaval of classical approaches, through the creation of a new governance for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and of the resulting EU legislation. The recurring changes in the many and diverse environmental legislations are also of course presented in context, including in light of the growing importance of circular economy and the proposal of a European Green Deal. The growing interference of fundamental rights is henceforth considered: Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Union, Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, etc. More broadly, the development of environmental and climate disputes settlement is accounted for beyond the traditional recourse to the EU judges, in the national courts including through transnational private litigation, and in international arbitration.