accise e imposte di consumo,  energie rinnovabili

Over compensation and aid of State

Marzo 9, 2023 /

The State of aid measure has to cover only the proved costs. The measure:

  • should establish in advance in an objective and trasparent way the parameters;
  • has to require a proper account separation for the costs;
  • should consider the difficulty in making the correct calculation lies not only in identifying true costs but also in taking into account the reaction of beneficiaries.

The aid of State should be released for the services and business which are not provided or satisfactorily provided by the market.

Therefore, it is necessary to carry out a market survey or analysis to establish what the market fails to supply or offer at the required level of quality and affordable price; for example: hydrogen, biofuels, renewable energies and synthetic fuels need to be supported-at least- in the phase of start-up.

Then, it is important that:

  • the measure is focused on well-defined service/good whose costs cannot be avoided and therefore they can be quantified later on for the purpose of calculating the amount of required compensation;
  • the parameters of compensation must be determined in advance;
  • the Member state has to ensure that the producers/providers will not overcompensate.

These criteria are aligned with the Altmark case which indicated the criteria to be met by the aid of State.

Finally, we recall Phedon Nicolaides “Compensation for the Net Extra Costs of Public Service Obligations: Complexity and Pitfalls” and Alessio Elia “ La sovracompensazione dei costi e il legitimo affidamento nella applicazione della Direttiva n. 2003/03/CE”.