Revision of EEAG and GBER: DG Comp commissioned consortium led by E.CA Economics with background study

Dr Hans W. Friederiszick,  Dr Ela Głowicka and  Dr Anselm Mattes will be leading an international consortium for E.CA Economics, commissioned by the European Commission ( DG Competition) with a background study on State aid in the field of environmental protection and energy.

The European Commission (DG Competition) commissioned an international consortium led by E.CA Economics with a background study on State aid in the field of environmental protection and energy. The consortium consists of E.CA Economics, DIW Berlin, LEAR, University of East Anglia and Sheppard Mullin. The results of the study will support the Commission in the revision of the EU Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy (EEAG) as well as the respective parts of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). The study will assist the Commission in updating the Guidelines to ensure that they are fit-for-purpose, taking into account the general State aid modernisation objectives and the recent regulatory developments (notably the Clean Energy Package, Clean Mobility Package and Circular Economy Package), and that they facilitate the implementation of the European Green Deal. The revision of the Guidelines will also take into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Member States economies and their funding capabilities together with the deployment of the Recovery Plan for Europe.

In this article, Gregor Langus and Brecht Boone explain how irreversibility of investment combined with market power can result in a delay in investments in the current climate of high uncertainty due to Covid-19. Building on these insights, the authors discuss the implications for the design of state aid and other fiscal policies.

Link to the article

E.CA Economics contributed to the support study on State aid rules for environmental protection and energy, written in collaboration with teams from Centre for Competition Policy and the Brussels office of Sheppard Mullin, which led the study. This report provides DG Competition with background information for the review of the EU Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy (EEAG) applicable in 2014-2020 and on the provisions applicable to aid for environmental protection and energy (Section 7) of Commission Regulation (EU) 651/2014 (GBER). Ela Głowicka co-authored the report in collaboration with Linda Gratz.

Link to the report

E.CA Economics was the leader of the retrospective evaluation of the regional State aid framework project and collaborated with teams from Firms and Markets Department at the Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung and the Brussels office of Sheppard Mullin. The report with the results of the evaluation was published by DG Competition on 2 June 2020. The study provides evidence-based assessment of the implementation of the RAF 2014 and its effects on regional development and competition. Hans W. Friederiszick, Ela Głowicka and Linda Gratz co-authored the study in collaboration with further E.CA staff Brecht Boone, Zachary Herriges, Harm van Leeuwen and Wiktor Owczarz.

Link to the report

On 2 June 2020 DG Competition published support studies on the retrospective evaluation of State aid rules, which will be a basis for future Commission decisions about whether to further prolong or update the rules expiring in 2020.

The consortium of DIW Berlin, E.CA Economics, Lear, Sheppard Mullin and UEA Consulting under the leadership of E.CA Economics provided evaluation studies in four State aid areas: regional State aid, State aid for access to finance for SMEs, State aid rules for operating aid under the EU aviation framework and State aid rules for environmental protection and energy.

Link to the “Fitness check” announcement

and link to all four studies:

Retrospective evaluation of the regional aid framework

Evaluation support study on the EU rules on State aid for access to finance for SMEs

Support study for the evaluation of the rules for operating aid under the EU aviation framework

Retrospective evaluation support study on State aid rules for environmental protection and energy