The Italian model can be applied in the case of Greece, industry circles said to “N” while stressing the value of the measure for relieving the sector from high energy costs.
As the same sources pointed out, its implementation is more related to the political will of the government, rather than any objections from the Commission that focus on individual amendments without canceling the scheme as a whole, which in turn would prevent the interested countries from adopting it altogether.
The European Commission sent a relevant “comfort letter” to the Italian authorities last June, where it indicated the approval of the mechanism, essentially as non-state aid, since it has not received a “compatibility assessment” or a reference to a specific context.
It should be noted that the Italian scheme does not fall under the provisions of the state aid framework for clean industry and does not constitute state aid, since it is an “energy loan”, which the beneficiaries of the measure will be required to repay over a 20-year horizon and at a corresponding value through the development of RES projects.
“Green light”
In the case of the Italian model, as indicated by competent sources with knowledge of the matter, no relevant procedure was initiated, as it is not state aid, resulting in the “green light” for its implementation. “If the Italian measure fell under CISAF and/or constituted state aid, the Directorate-General for Competition would have certainly applied the new framework and would have proceeded with an in-depth (formal) investigation and assessment of compatibility,” the same sources pointed out to “N”.
It is worth noting that this practice is not something new, as other measures that have been notified to the Commission from time to time have been handled in a similar manner, with the latter following the “comfort letter” method, which is equivalent to a “green light”, without raising additional objections to their architecture.
For its part, the industry, as indicated by competent sources and published in a previous relevant report by “N”, is reportedly insisting on the adoption of the measure, as the most appropriate to provide a generous relief to the sector from the high energy cost, which is testing the resilience of businesses, now raising the risk of “lockdowns”.
European Metals
Energy costs remain in focus, with the president of European Metals, Evangelos Mytilineos, addressing a few days ago a renewed appeal to Brussels, in order to have immediate measures to support the energy-intensive industry for energy costs.
“With competitiveness under intense pressure, Europe needs immediate, operational decisions,” he noted, highlighting the need for immediate solutions in the area of the emissions trading system (ETS), immediate access to EU financial instruments, as well as immediate action for the competitiveness of energy costs.
Για να εμφανίζονται περισσότερα άρθρα της Ναυτεμπορικής στις αναζητήσεις σας εύκολα και γρήγορα, πρέπει να προσθέσετε το site στις προτιμώμενες πηγές σας. Μπορείτε να το κάνετε πηγαίνοντας εδώ.
