The controversial State Aid guidelines on energy and environment have just entered final consultation within the European Commission with a view to publication in the coming weeks. This leaked draft of the current state aid guidelines shows considerable movement to soften the Commission’s attempt to kill off renewables energy support schemes. Governments have also come out strongly against the Commission’s proposal but prefer to water them down further.

The Commission proposed ending special electricity prices for producers of renewable energy commonly referred to as ‘feed-in tariffs’ towards “more market friendly support” such as certificate trading schemes and premium tariff schemes. This has now been watered down too, but still has a long way to go to give renewable energy a chance to be competitive with fossil fuels.