State Aid (CEEAG) and Taxonomy:

Abstract

This article presents and analyses Taxonomy and the new State Aid Guidelines on Climate, Environmental Protection, and Energy (CEEAG), two regulatory regimes applicable for financing and support schemes for energy and climate projects. The article also addresses the necessary infrastructure development for delivering Europe's 2030 and 2050 climate targets, Europe's Green Deal, where both private and public funding are required. The EU Taxonomy is a transparency tool and a classification system to propel sustainable private investments. CEEAG are key for establishing the required public funding and support schemes. CEEAG oblige the Commission and the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) to pay particular attention to the Taxonomy. Not only will the private capital have to ‘tune in’ to the Taxonomy, but all public support will also have to be assessed in line with the Taxonomy screening criteria. In analysing the CEEAG and the Taxonomy, it is argued that the novel CEEAG guidelines and Taxonomy legislation need to be viewed together and combined with the sectorial climate and energy legislation. It is argued that for any energy or climate initiative, it is essential to have regulatory oversight and not to overlook these two important pieces of legislation while approaching the massive climate and energy sectorial legislation from the EU. Where measures meet the Taxonomy requirements, the State aid assessment can be simplified. In balancing the positive and negative effects of the aid, the Commission will pay particular attention to compliance with the ‘do no significant harm' principle. Keywords: CEEAG; taxonomy; infrastructure; Green Transition; Green Deal; Fit for-55