The Commission takes note of the preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union. In its judgment, the Court clarified that certain measures, such as those stemming from a 2013 Romanian decision to secure energy supply and system adequacy constitute State aid, subject to the verification of the facts by the National Court. In particular, with its 2013 decision, Romania adopted the following measures in favour of two state-owned coal generators: (i) priority access to transmission systems; (ii) priority dispatch by the system operator; and (ii) a compulsory volume of ancillary services to be purchased by the system operator at a regulated price. As mentioned, the Court clarified that measures such as the ones at stake are liable to involve State aid and therefore be subject to the obligation of prior notification to the Commission.
