30/01/26 (Agence Europe) – On Friday, 30 January, the European Commission announced the that it had opened an in-depth investigation into a Danish scheme in the wastewater treatment sector with the aim of examining whether companies that use a lot of water have an undue advantage in breach of the European Union’s State aid rules. Since 2013, Denmark has applied a degressive charge for wastewater treatment that is based on the volume of wastewater discharged (‘staircase model’), which enables companies discharging large volumes of wastewater to pay a lower average charge per m3 than that paid by companies discharging smaller quantities. In April 2024, the EU’s General Court had annulled a 2018 Commission decision (C(2018)2259) (see EUROPE 12005/27) that the ‘staircase model’ did not constitute State aid (Case T-486/18). The latter will investigate in order to evaluate the economic rationality of introducing the disputed model as well as assess the selective nature of this model. (MB)