The European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement on Tuesday 8 December on the regulation relating to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF), specifically the financing of gas investments of up to a maximum 1%.
These investments would be distributed among Member States according to their per capita gross national income and how dependent they are on gas in their energy mix. For Member States whose GNI per capita is therefore less than 60% of the EU average GNI per capita, or for Member States whose national income per capita is less than 90% of the EU average GNI per capita and who have a proportion of fossil energy in their gross consumption of 25% or more, the investment limit is set at 1.55%.
For other Member States whose gross national income per capita is less than 90% of the EU average GNI per capita, the limit is set at 1%. For Member States whose gross national income per capita is equal to or above 90% of the EU average GNI per capita, the limit is set at 0.2%.
These investments are intended, for example, to replace solid fossil fuels – namely coal, peat, lignite or oil shale – with gas heating systems, as well as financing the upgrading of district heating systems, in particular. Financial assistance must be granted by the end of 2025 and these operations cannot be phased in until the next programming period.
The decommissioning or construction of nuclear power plants, activities related to tobacco products, airport infrastructure (except for the outermost regions) and investments in fossil fuels, among others, will be excluded from funding.
In addition, the co-legislators agreed to target 30% of investments towards climate action, irrespective of the GNI level of Member States. They also introduced specific aid for the outermost regions, islands and depopulated regions. At least 8% of ERDF resources at a national level must be dedicated to sustainable urban development.
In this way, the fact that gas infrastructure can be financed within the ERDF and the CF could unblock negotiations on the Just Transition Fund (see EUROPE 12609/17). The results of the negotiations on the latter Fund at the interinstitutional meeting, which was held on Wednesday 9 December, are not yet known to us at the time of publication. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)