face her energy crisis that already threatened their survival European industries, with the climate crisis forcing him to abandon green development, but above all with Washington’s plan to boldly subsidize as much green technology that is produced in America, and only those that are produced in America, the EU. not only is he revisiting his fundamental policies, but he is demonstrating unprecedented changes in his slow reflexes. For the first time, things are moving very quickly, judging by the new initiative of the Competition Commissioner, Margaret Vestager, which proposes a further and deeper change in state aid rules and their simplification, so that EU governments subsidize renewable energy technologies more easily and quickly, as well as provide tax incentives in strategic industries. In fact, he proposes not only to facilitate the provision of state assistance to Member States, but also to actively support Member States with funds from the EU special fund. The purpose of the change is, of course, to prevent the transfer of investments to third countries outside the EU. and its deindustrialization, the most obvious danger that industries and agencies have been warning about since the beginning of the energy crisis.

In a letter to EU finance ministers. where available for “K”, Ms Vestager, a proponent of fair competition and by definition an opponent of state aid, characterizes the issue as “urgent” and points out that “the competitiveness of European industry faces many challenges”. He explicitly emphasizes that the Biden administration’s plan, known from the original IRA, to subsidize as much green technology as is produced in the US, but only in the US, “threatens to attract some business from the EU. and move investments to the US.” Therefore, it requires new changes in the policies and instruments adopted by the EU. respond to the war in Ukraine and the aggravation of the energy crisis caused by it. It specifically proposes changes that would “simplify the calculation of the amount of each government aid and expedite its approval.” At the same time, he calls for the expansion of relevant instruments to include “all renewable energy technologies” and for European governments to be given the opportunity for member states to seduce industries to persuade them to invest within the EU. not in third countries.

In her letter to EU finance ministers, held by K, she describes the issue as “urgent” for the survival of European industry.

Perhaps most important of all, Ms. Vestager proposes not only to further strengthen existing programs, but above all, the creation of a collective European fund to support all countries on an equal footing. He even justifies the proposal, and in fact his request, by emphasizing that not all member states have the same financial capacity to help their industries, which he characterizes as a “danger to the integrity of Europe”. As the Competition Commissioner points out, of the 672 billion euros in state aid approved by the Commission under its new policy, 53% were for companies in Germany, 24% in France and about 7% in Italy. After all, this is the danger that this policy still bears when it is not supported by a pan-European fund: it leads to a further increase in inequality between rich member states that can support their industry and countries with very limited opportunities. In short, Ms Vestager now joins Single Market Commissioner Thierry Breton in calling for a dedicated European fund to finance state aid to industry in the EU-27. no matter what country they are in. He, of course, recalls that thanks to the amendments that have already been adopted by the EU. In state aid rules from 2020 onwards to deal with the pandemic recession and energy crisis, European governments can already allocate the bulk of state aid to their businesses without even asking for Commission approval. And, of course, she confirms the “urgency” of the issue, urging finance ministers to promptly respond to her proposals by January 25.

The idea of ​​creating a pan-European fund to support European industry has already received the approval of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which, in theory, can break the resistance of the most conservative member states of the European North. However, it is still an innovative and bold idea that is expected to generate reactions.