Brussels - The EU Commission's approval of compensation for German lignite companies is still pending. The background is the amended phase-out plan for North Rhine-Westphalia. The investigation procedure has been running since March 2022. The Commission had already expressed doubts about the proportionality of the compensation payments to cover the lost profits and the additional costs for the rehabilitation of the opencast mining areas (
energate reported). In December 2022, the German government had notified the EU Commission of an amendment to the agreement between Germany and RWE on the accelerated phase-out of lignite in the Rhineland (
energate reported). These amendments are the postponement of the final closure of two sites from the end of 2022 to March 2024 and the preference of the final closure of three sites from 2038 to 2030.
Examination of proportionality
The German government had informed the EU Commission that the original compensation of 2.6 billion euos to RWE should remain unchanged and had submitted a revised calculation of RWE's lost profits to demonstrate that the compensation was justified and proportionate. The EU Commission doubts this. It is of the opinion that the compensation for RWE still constitutes state aid. It notes that the revised calculation of RWE's lost profits submitted by Germany appears more conservative than the previous calculation. The EU Commission now intends to examine whether the compensation to RWE is proportionate and whether the concerns expressed in the opening decision of March 2021 regarding the aid to RWE have been addressed.
With the extension of the investigation, the German government and third parties will again be given the opportunity to comment. The procedure will be conducted in an open-ended manner, the Commission emphasised. The basis for the investigation is the new Guidelines on State Aid for Energy and the Environment (CEEAG), which have been in force since January 2022 (
energate reported). These generally prohibit aid for fossil technologies. They are only allowed if member states can prove that they are moving closer to the goal of climate neutrality and that there is no "fossil lock-in". /rl
