Newsflash - 23 December 2021

Publication of the revised Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy

On Tuesday 21 December, the European Commission adopted and presented the revised Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy (CEEAG).

Ahead of this publication, SGI Europe responded to the public consultation on 2 August 2021. You can read our position here. According to the adopted guidelines, SGI Europe welcomes the explicit mention, in the adopted guidelines, of smart grids in the electricity, gas sector and hydrogen in guidelines. However, the Commission included our suggestions for improvements, such as the adjustment of the application of the SME Definition, the change in the definition of an ‘incentive effect’ or the reference to the Taxonomy Regulation when assessing the compatibility with the guidelines.

In the context of the ongoing review of the EU competition framework, SGI Europe will remain active in 2022 on the revision of the environmental section of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) that provides rules under which environmental aid does not need to be notified and is even more important when it comes to smaller amounts of aid.

Contact: Manca Pocivavsek

The European Commission proposes its new Own-Resources Decision

The European Commission unveiled on 22 December its proposal to establish the next generation of own resources for the EU budget.

It is expected to rely on three new sources of revenue: the first based on revenues from emissions trading (ETS); the second drawing on the resources generated by the proposed EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM); and the third based on the share of residual profits from multinationals that will be re-allocated to EU Member States under the recent OECD/G20 agreement on a reallocation of taxing rights. These new sources of revenue are expected to generate on average a total of up to €17 billion annually for the EU budget and will contribute to repaying the grant component of the NextGenerationEU and the Social Climate Fund to ensure a socially fair transition.

To reach these goals, the European Commission proposes to amend the Own Resources Decision to add the three proposed new resources to the existing ones. In addition, the Commission also put forward a targeted amendment of the Multiannual Financial Framework, offering the legal possibility to start repaying the borrowing for NextGenerationEU already during the current MFF, whilst proposing to increase the relevant expenditure ceilings for the years 2025-2027 to accommodate the additional expenditure for the Social Climate Fund.

The MFF Regulation and the Own Resources Decision both need to be approved unanimously in the Council after consultation of the European Parliament. SGI Europe will now carefully examine the content of this new package with the support of its boards and taskforces.

Contact: Guillaume Afellat

Proposal of the European Commission to revise the Environmental Crime Directive

On 15 December, the European Commission presented its proposal to revise the Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law (2008/99/EC). You can find the proposal here. This proposed revision intends to make protecting the environment more effective by obliging Member States to take criminal law measures and expanding the list of environmental crimes.

Environmental crimes are growing and are considered one of the most lucrative criminal businesses generating billions worldwide. To address this issue, the European Commission put forward in the proposal that Member States set higher sanctions, including prison sentences for offences that are likely to cause death or serious injury, as well as financial fines for companies that committed environmental crimes of up to 5 per cent of their annual turnover.

The objective is also to improve investigation and prosecution at the national level and across borders on the prevention side. To that aim, the proposal includes training programmes for national authorities, police units and judges. In addition, it is also proposed to extend the mandate of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) to deal with environmental crimes, with a mid-term assessment in 2023.

As the proposal goes through the legislative process, SGI Europe will be attentive to the amendments of the European Parliament and the Council.

Contact: Henriette Gleau

Online Scoreboard to monitor the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility

In the context of the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the European Commission has launched an interactive scoreboard to monitor how the implementation of the RRF and the National Recovery and Resilience Plans is progressing across the EU27, with updated information and data easily available for stakeholders and citizens to access.

Relying on data collected by the European Commission and the Member States, the Scoreboard provides up-to-date information on the preparation of the European Commission’s annual reports on the implementation of the RRF, as well as the upcoming review reports to the European Parliament and to the European Council. Lastly, it also serves as a basis for the RRF Dialogue between the Parliament and the Commission.

You can find the RRF Scoreboard here.

Contact: Antonio Astolfi

Vacancy: HOSPEEM is currently recruiting a Policy Officer

HOSPEEM is currently recruiting a Policy Officer. The Policy Officer will work in the HOSPEEM Secretariat in Brussels, providing support to the Secretary General, the Daily Manager, and HOSPEEM Members to efficiently represent the interests of European hospital employers and ensure that the organisation runs effectively. More on HOSPEEM website.