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The Commission is discussing presently a proposal rendering additional public support for the economic development in the member states. Since the beginning of the military conflict in the Middle East (already about two months ago), the EU-wide bill for fossil fuel’s imports has reached €22 billion. The disruptions to energy supplies will persist for some time to come; therefore, the EU suggests some measures for the states governance to overcome apparent difficulties: the temporary framework shall be adopted by the end of April.
Background
The EU-wide State aid rules have been enforced to prevent government support leading to companies gaining distortive advantage over its competitors. Among numerous State aid rules relevant to the Clean Industrial Deal (such as the climate, environmental protection and energy aid guidelines, the so-called CEEAG), which continue to apply in parallel and may be used by the EU member states for different and more complex support measures. However, the member states could also continue implementing State aid measures in the clean deal under the General Block Exemption Regulation, without the need to notify them to the Commission.
Presently, the European Commission is gathering the views of the member states’ governance on a draft proposal for a so-called State aid Temporary Crisis Framework to support the states’ economies in the context of the Middle East crisis; the call was announced on 13 April 2026 by the Commission President. The draft is based on the EU basic law TFEU (art. 107,3c), which allows the extraordinary aid to support specific economic sectors facing specific and unexpected economic risks. The most exposed socio-economic sectors involved are: e.g. agriculture and fisheries, road transport, as well as intra-EU short sea shipping.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/da/ip_26_804
The draft proposal also includes a temporary adjustment to the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF, approved in January 2025 to push forward the development of clean energy, industrial decarbonisation and clean technology) allowing for higher aid intensities to address electricity price spikes. The CISAF replaced the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF), which was in effect since 2022; CISAF applies as of 25 June 2025, and remains in force until the end of 2030.
The only lasting way out of the EU-wide fossil fuel dependency is to modernise the energy system by shifting electricity generation to renewables and nuclear, and by electrifying the member states’ economies as rapidly as possible.
More on CISAF in: https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/about/contribution-clean-just-and-competitive-transition/clean-industrial-deal-state-aid-framework-cisaf_en
The draft’s main features
The draft proposal under consultation proposes to allow the member states to grant the so-called “calibrated temporary support” for the most exposed sectors:
a) covering part of the price increases for fuel or fertilisers, as compared to before 28 February 2026, based on beneficiaries’ consumption, and
b) simplified measures allowing a limited amount of aid per company (except for EU short sea shipping); on this basis, the EU member states may rely on relevant statistics to avoid individual tracking of actual consumption.
c) an increased maximum aid intensity for the electricity costs for energy-intensive industries under Section 4.5 of the CISAF, above the existing maximum of 50%.
In addition, the Commission stands ready to assess, on a case-by-case basis and subject to several requirements, temporary measures that may include subsidising the fuel cost of gas-fired electricity generation to reduce overall electricity costs.
Source: Commission press release at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/da/ip_26_804
Vital elements of concern
According to the Commission President, the immediate measure would include, such sectors and development cooperative facets as:
=Robust coordination among the member states: the EU has demonstrated during previous crises that unity is vital element in economic strength. E.g. during the 2022 energy crisis the Commission proposed the EU Energy Platform, which helped aggregate 90 billion cubic meters of gas purchases for the member states; it has connected buyers with suppliers – with 77 billion cubic meters matched – between off-takers and suppliers. But, the coordination in the energy sector shall be facilitated: e.g. with a wider states’ coordination in gas storage filling, to avoid that many states go to the market at the same time, so they are competing against each other. The Commission will also coordinate oil stock releases, to achieve the largest possible effect of these releases, and to ensure that the member states’ emergency measures will not impact the Single Market.
= Structural measures to bring down energy prices: they intend to provide some “relief to citizens and businesses”; i.e. the Commission has been already active on the four cost components for the energy bill. The biggest chunk is of course the energy source itself; but with the grids’ charges, the taxes and levies become vital; however, the smallest part is the ETS; it is the EU-wide emissions trading system as a market-based “cap-and-trade” system that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by capping pollution and requiring companies to take allowances. The system covers energy, industry and from 2024 also shipping, with increasing prices to promote green transition. Reducing the ETS costs, which in reality are the smallest amount in the energy bill, needs changes to the Market Stability Reserve; hence the EU stopped cancellation of allowances to “boost the firepower of the Reserve. In this way the Commission is enhancing the stability and predictability of ETS prices without losing the important price signal. In addition, the EU consulted the states on updated ETS benchmarks using all the legal flexibilities; the full review of the ETS system will be presented in July 2026.
= Electricity, in order to accelerate the electrification of the states’ economies, industrial operations, households’ heating, and mobility; thus, the process of electrifying EU states means making Europe more independent. However, presently, the EU-27 is lagging behind China and the US with the electrification; hence the Commission intends to present the EU-wide electrification strategy before the summer. The strategy would include, as the President notes “an ambitious new target on electrification” and measures “to remove any remaining regulatory obstacles and to mobilise investments”.
= Investment: regarding public money, the Commission would encourage the member states to make better use of the EU funding (for example, the Cohesion Funds). Hence, the financial resources for investment are available: e.g. in grids, in storage, in batteries, to name a few, to improve the EU-wide energy system. But public money is not enough: therefore, there is an urgent need to use more the private capital: the Commission suggests convening an Investment Conference to mobilise private investments in these areas.
All references and citations from: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_26_800
= Renewables and nuclear in Europe: both now account for over 70 percent of the EU-27 electricity generation; and the Union needs to go much further: e.g. through a better integration of clean energy sources in the national energy mix. At the moment, huge volumes of clean power remain unused or even wasted: hence, the Commission needs facilities for storage and flexibility, as well as accelerating grid connections. To improve the overall situation, the Commission has presented the “grids package” in December 2025, with the goal of reaching an agreement with the co-legislators at the end of this year. Although there is too much time, the sense of urgency is too high: hence, the Commission would really like to urge the co-legislator to approve this very important package by the summer 2025.
Our note. EU energy policy focuses on achieving a sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply through the European Green Deal and the Energy Union strategy. Key targets include reaching climate neutrality by 2050, increasing renewable energy to about 45 percent by 2030, reducing dependence on Russian fossil fuels, improving energy efficiency by about 12 percent by 2030, and ensuring an integrated, interconnected internal energy market.
General source: https://commission.europa.eu/topics/energy_en