The European Commission indicated, on Wednesday 26 October, that it is continuing its consultation of EU Member States on the prolongation and adjustment of the Temporary Framework for State Aid to support the economy in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The scheme was adopted by the Commission on 23 March 2022 and first amended on 20 July.
The Commission had already launched a first consultation of Member States on 5 October.
Taking into account the feedback already received from Member States and in the light of the recent Regulation 2022/1854 on an emergency response to high energy prices and the Commission’s proposal for a new emergency regulation to tackle high gas prices in the EU (see EUROPE 13045/1), the Commission is consulting Member States again, in particular on possible amendments to be made:
- a targeted adjustment to broaden the possibility for Member State to provide public guarantees to energy companies in order to cover the financial collaterals for their trading activities in view of current market prices and volatility;
- additional adjustments to further allow Member States to provide support to companies affected by high energy prices.
The Commission intends to adopt the Temporary Crisis Framework by the end of October. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the Commission in charge of competition policy, told MEPs on Wednesday that she wanted to extend the crisis framework until the end of 2023. She said the total budget of support being approved is around €455 billion. Not all of it has been disbursed, as “we are very strict on the eligibility criteria”, Ms Vestager said. To enable the development of integrated infrastructure (gas, hydrogen ...), “we are committed to assessing ‘State aid notifications’ for everything related to hydrogen, as a priority”, including Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs). Two IPCEIs have already been approved for hydrogen and a third is expected to be approved soon. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)