The Commission has published its Communication on the Clean Industrial Deal, presented as a pillar of its competitiveness plan to support energy-intensive industries and the “clean-tech” sector. The Clean Industrial Deal embodies the new EU industrial strategy, powered by decarbonisation, and will cover a wide range of reforms, including access to affordable energy, circularity and access to materials. It will also entail changes for EU State aid and competition policy. These (forthcoming) changes are outlined below.
Most strikingly, the Communication devotes an entire subsection to outlining its future State aid reforms, serving its broader objective of fostering (public and private) investments. Among the Commission’s announcements is the promise of a Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework, to be adopted by June 2025. This Framework will introduce simplified and flexible rules for faster approval of State aid, especially for decarbonisation efforts and clean-tech projects. It will include “off-the-shelf” options to streamline approval and will replace complex individual assessments with simplified methods based on past crisis-response frameworks. The Framework will also allow targeted support for wind, solar, and non-fossil energy flexibility, alongside easier public financing for clean-tech products like batteries and renewable technologies.
Regarding nuclear energy and important energy infrastructure projects specifically, “the Commission will assess the State aid for nuclear supply chains and technologies” and “will provide guidance to Member States on how to design contracts for difference, including their potential combination with PPAs, in line with State aid rules”. Moreover, new rules on cross-border forward capacity allocation are awaited by 2026.
A review of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) is also planned for the coming years, in order to reduce administrative burdens and costs for companies and public authorities.
Not only public financing by EU Member States but also third-country financing will be impacted. The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) will play a key role, with the Commission planning to adopt guidelines by January 2026 on key concepts underpinning the FSR. The guidelines will cover the assessment of distortive effects of foreign subsidies, and which mergers falling below the thresholds should be reviewed. Additionally, the Commission will proactively investigate strategic sectors for potential foreign subsidy distortions.
Beyond public financing, the Clean Industrial Deal also includes other announcements regarding competition and merger control. Indeed, on the antitrust front, the Commission indicates that it is “ready to provide informal guidance to companies on the compatibility of cooperation projects contributing to the achievement of EU priorities with antitrust rules in particular those related to innovation, decarbonisation and economic security in the EU”, thereby suggesting an open-door policy with regard to, among other things, sustainability cooperation initiatives under Art. 101 TFEU. Moreover, the Commission will revise its merger guidelines to better account for the impact of mergers on affordable sustainable products, clean innovation, and efficiency-driven sustainability benefits. The updated merger guidance will also consider innovation, market resilience, and investment intensity in strategic sectors as part of competition assessments.
Please get in touch with the Eubelius competition team if you would like to better understand the potential impact of these developments on your projects.
