Public intervention in the energy transition: a legal and economic perspective on state aid policy

EU State aid regulations play a significant role in shaping the internal energy market, defining both the market design and regulations in areas such as the support for clean technologies (renewables, nuclear, energy efficiency, etc.), security of supply (resource adequacy and capacity mechanisms), infrastructures (PCI, etc.) or R&D and innovation. The State aid rules for energy and the environment have evolved over time to streamline a number of processes and to provide more specific guidelines on some of the key issues such as capacity mechanisms. In the context of the EU Energy Transition, a number of emerging issues will need to be examined. For instance, as a large part of investments and public support for clean technologies is going to be channeled into small-scale decentralised projects, the General Block Exemption approach may need to be revisited. Questions are also likely to emerge regarding the role of the actors in the regulated parts of the value chain, in particular network operators in the provision  of new energy services or data management. A key point remains the treatment of nuclear energy, where any form of support still needs to be referred to the Commission on a case-by-case basis. Capacity mechanisms and the treatment of energy-intensive industries are additional issues.
The workshop will review the different interfaces between EU State aid policies and the internal energy market drawing from academic research and the experiences of practitioners. As technologies, consumer behaviour, and policy objectives evolve, the conference will debate how competition and State aid policy will need to adapt in order to support the development of an efficient internal energy market.

Download the conference report

Watch the video interview by Leigh Hancher

PROGRAMME

• 13h30 – 14h00 Welcome coffee
• 14h00 – 14h10 Welcome by Jean-Michel Glachant (Florence School of Regulation), Fabien Roques (Senior Vice President/ Compass Lexecon and Associate Professor/ Université Paris-Dauphine), Jan Horst Keppler (Scientific Director, CEEM/ Université Paris-Dauphine) and Éric Brousseau (Scientific Director, Chaire Governance and Regulation/ Université Paris-Dauphine)
• 14h10 – 14h40 Keynote Speech I: Recent Trends and Key Issues for State Aid in EU Energy Markets, Céline Gauer (EC, DG Competition) - Presentation available
• 14h40 – 16h30 Session I: The Intersection of State Aid Control, Energy Policy and Industrial Policy in the Energy Transition
  Chair: Adrien de Hauteclocque (Court of Justice of the European Union and FSR)
  Patrice Geoffron (Director- CGEMP/ Université Paris-Dauphine): The Interplay of Energy Policy and Industrial Policy in the Energy Transition - Presentation available
  Vincent Verouden (Director, E.CA Economics): An Economic Perspective on the Interface between State Aid, Energy Policy, and Industrial Policy - Presentation available
  Pablo Ibanez Colomo (London School of Economics): A Legal Perspective on State Aid Control, Energy Policy, and Industrial Policy - Presentation available
  Fabien Roques (Compass Lexecon and Université Paris-Dauphine) and Guillaume Dezobry (Avocat of counsel at FIDAL –Université d'Amiens and Université Paris-Dauphine): State Aid Control, Security of Supply and the Role of Capacity Mechanisms - Presentation available
• 16h30 – 17h00 Coffee break 
• 17h00 – 18h30 Session II: From Centralised to Decentralised Energy Production? Future Issues for State Aid in the Energy Transition
• Chair: Jan Horst Keppler (Scientific Director, CEEM/ Université Paris-Dauphine)
  Olivier Fréget (Cabinet Fréget - Tasso de Panafieu Avocats): State Aid and the Role of Network Operators in Delivering New Energy Services and Data Management - Presentation available
  Geza Sapi (EC, DG Competition): An Economist’s Perspective on Support for Centralised and Decentralised Energy Production
  Maria Kleis-Walravens (Project Lead, EU Group Climate and Energy, ClientEarth): Application of GBER to Subsidies of Decentralised Energy Production: The Lawyer’s View
• 18h30 – 19h00 Concluding Keynote Speech: Do the State Aid Rules Help or Hinder the Energy Transition? Leigh Hancher (FSR, EUI; Tilburg Law and Economic Center (TILEC); Allen-Overy LLP)
• 19h00 – 20h00 Cocktail

Joint Conference organized by the Florence School of Regulation (EUI), the Chaire European Electricity Markets (CEEM) and the Chaire Governance and Regulation