consultation paper environmental and energy aid guidelines...
TRANSCRIPT
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• Review of EU Guidelines on State Aid for Environmental Protection
• Consultation paper Environmental and Energy Aid Guidelines 2014 - 2020
• Brigitta Renner-Loquenz, Head of Unit "State aids – Energy and Environment", Competition Directorate–General ,
European Commission
• Workshop Friday 12 April 2013–Albert Borschette
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Purpose of the consultation document
• Identify key areas for review
• Guide the debate with Member States, other stakeholders and experts
• => Your input is welcome!
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Review of EAG is part of SAM
1.More with less: re-launch growth by a more effective and efficient use of (scarcer) public finances (good vs. bad aid)
2.Simplify & target enforcement rules, according to competition threat and impact on the Single Market (GBER & GLs)
3.Clarify rules and improve procedures for faster decisions, based on a common economic approach, and better compliance
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State Aid for Environmental Protection and Energy
Aid can be granted on the basis of the
• Guidelines
• General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER)
• Directly under the Treaty
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Current rules Guidelines
Positive view of environmental aid like:
• Exceeding environmental standards
• Energy savings
• Renewable energy sources
• More efficient energy production
• Environmental taxes – exemptions
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General Block Exemption Regulation
• Simplified approach for a subset of measures (aid beyond standards, energy saving, investment aid RES/CHP, energy tax reductions)
• Aid below € 7.5 M no prior notification, presumed to be compatible
• Mainly used in 2011 for tax reductions
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Environmental aid expenditure
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2008 2009 2010 2011
Block-exempted aid 0.0 0.7 0.7 4.6
Total aid 13.7 15.1 14.7 12.4
Non- block-exempted
aid 13.7 14.4 14.0 7.8
under 2008
Guidelines 3 3.1 3.0 2.3
in € billion. State aid Scoreboard figures
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Focus of the review
• Need for environmental measures continues –review allows simplification and adaptations
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• Increasing interlinks between climate change measures and effects of aid on the functioning of internal energy market may require
• Widening of the scope of guidelines
• Modifications of compatibility criteria
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Challenges for the internal electricity market
• Lack of investment in (cross-border) infrastructure + pressure from (intermittent) RES and phasing out of conventional power plants on infrastructure
• intermittent RES causes concerns on stability of the network and generation adequacy.
• Risk of (further) fragmentation of internal energy market through national support measures, e.g. RES, capacity mechanism
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Main areas under review
1. Harmonise and simplify rules
2. Energy infrastructure
3. System stability and generation adequacy
4. Support to low-carbon energy sources
5. Exemptions from taxes and other charges
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1. Harmonise and simplify rules
• Explore simplification of rules for environmental measures (under GBER)
• Explore adding aid for less distortive measures under GBER
• Ex ante rules in EEAG for measures currently assessed under the Treaty (infrastructure)
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2. Energy infrastructure
• Infrastructure usually beneficial for achieving climate and energy objectives, usually positive for competition (downstream)
• What infrastructure supplied by market (no aid necessary)?
• Focus on cross-border infrastructure?
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3. System stability and generation adequacy
• Is there a market failure?
• How to limit potential distortions?
•Tendering?
•Technology neutral?
•Cross-border mechanisms?
•Limited in time?13
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4. Renewable energy support schemes
• How to promote cost-efficient support schemes?
• How to make schemes more market oriented?
• Technology neutral tendering for mature RES?
• Specific support for less mature technologies?
• How to include cross-border supply?
• Support to other low-carbon energy sources?
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5. Exemptions from taxes and other charges
§ EAG: High energy taxes foster environmental protection. Well-targeted reductions can be necessary for competitiveness reasons§ Sound principle, simpler test to demonstrate
necessity?
§ Exemptions from financing of RES systems§ do they merit similar reflection? How to limit
distortive effects?
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Next steps
Comments may be sent until 30 April 2013
• via e-mail [email protected]• Subject "HT 359 - Consultation on Community Guidelines
on State Aid for Environmental Protection"
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