RO - the financing of energy efficiency projects - GBER Art. 38
Regarding the financing of energy efficiency projects, analyzing how state aid is granted to such projects, according to Art. 38 of the new Regulation 651/2014 EC State aid declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty, “Aid shall not be granted under this Article where improvements are undertaken to ensure that undertakings comply with Union standards already adopted, even if they are not yet in force. The eligible costs shall be the extra investment costs necessary to achieve the higher level of energy efficiency”.
Therefore, the general rule is to grant the aid for overcoming Union standards already adopted.
In this context please support us to identify how these standards shall apply.
The standards referred to above are technical standards (eg SR EN .... available at the Romanian Standards Association against payment)? If the standards refer to a level of energy efficiency, are there any standards set by the European Union that can be applied at the project level?
This information is required in order to develop a state aid scheme for the financing of such projects and thus to identify ways to verify the exceeding of Union standards already adopted.
COMP reply:
Aid under article 38 of the GBER can indeed only be granted for energy efficiency projects that are not necessary to comply with Union standards. The provision refers in general to all standards applicable to the beneficiaries, not specifically to standards imposing a certain level of energy efficiency.
Union standards are defined in the GBER (point 102) as:
(a) a mandatory Union standard setting the levels to be attained in environmental terms by individual undertakings; or
(b) the obligation under Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council38 to use the best available techniques (BAT) and ensure that emission levels of pollutants are not higher than they would be when applying BAT. For the cases where emission levels associated with the BAT have been defined in implementing acts adopted under Directive 2010/75/EU, those levels will be applicable for the purpose of this Regulation; where those levels are expressed as a range, the limit where the BAT is first achieved will be applicable;
As a general rule, if the beneficiary already complies with all the Union standards applicable to it (including standards adopted but not yet in force), aid for energy efficiency projects can be granted to the respective beneficiary. If however the beneficiary does not comply with all the standards applicable to it, it must be checked that the energy efficiency project for which aid is required would not be necessary for the beneficiary to comply with those standards. If a project is necessary to comply with a Union standard, the beneficiary would be obliged to undertake the respective project (or an equivalent project) anyway and the aid would have no incentive effect.