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

Conference on 24 November 2017

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.

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