Overview   State aid

The European Commission has approved a €3 billion German State aid scheme to support strategic investments that add clean technology (cleantech) manufacturing capacity in line with the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal. This measure will contribute to the transition towards a net-zero economy. The scheme was approved under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) adopted by the Commission on 25 June 2025.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €3.1 billion Spanish scheme to support the production of electricity from new or substantially refurbished highly efficient combined heat and power (‘CHP') plants. The measure will contribute to the implementation of Spain's National Energy and Climate Plan, the Clean Industrial Deal and the EU's energy efficiency targets.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether an arbitration award, in which Bulgaria is ordered to pay compensation to ACF Renewable Energy Limited for changes to a renewable electricity support measure, is in line with EU State aid rules.

EU Member States spent 90% of their State aid in 2024 to support EU priorities, according to the European Commission's 2025 State aid Scoreboard, published today. While overall spending dropped to €168.23 billion in 2024 from €203.35 billion in 2023, Member States channeled more funds towards supporting key EU prorities, such as environmental protection, energy, research, development and innovation and regional development. At the same time, crisis aid measures related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to the COVID-19 pandemic continued to phase out.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €200 million German scheme to support the production in Canada of renewable hydrogen and its derivatives, known as renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs). These RFNBOs will be imported to Germany and sold in the EU, contributing to the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal, the EU Hydrogen Strategy, and the REPowerEU Plan to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and accelerate the clean transition.

The Commission takes note of the preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice concerning the interpretation of Articles 3 and 6 of Regulation 1408/2013 regarding the application for de minimis aid in the agriculture sector.
In its judgment, in line with the Commission’s position, the Court clarified that, while waiting for the implementation of a de minimis register and in without the specific declaration by the applicant regarding aid received in the three-year period, the Member State is not allowed to grant aid.
The Court clarified that the Member State has to verify whether aid has been received in three years prior to the moment the self-declaration is submitted. The Court also clarified that the self-declaration is needed at the time of the granting of the aid.
In addition, the Court clarified that the Member State concerned may classify the compensation as “de minimis aid” and thus refrain from notification to the Commission, if it complies with the conditions of the De Minimis aid Regulation for the agriculture sector.
The referring court is called to apply that finding in the context of the national dispute pertaining to the granting of compensation for the beneficiary of damage caused by wild fauna to its organic durum wheat crops in 2014.

The Commission takes note of today’s judgments of the Court of Justice , which dismissed the appeals lodged by UNO and ASEMPRE against the 2023 judgments of the General Court in Cases T-514/20 and T-513/20. In those judgments, the General Court had rejected their applications for annulment of the Commission’s 2020 State aid decision concerning the compensation granted to Correos for the provision of the universal service obligation in Spain during the period 2011–2020.
In the judgments, the Court of Justice confirmed that the applicants did not sufficiently demonstrate that they were individually affected by the Commission decision and that, consequently, their actions for annulment were rightly dismissed.
See also Judgment in Asempre v Commission.

The European Commission has today adopted an amendment to the Guidelines on certain State aid measures in the context of the system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading post-2021 (‘ETS State aid Guidelines'). As announced in the European Chemicals Industry Action Plan, the amendment addresses the increased risk of carbon leakage for additional energy-intensive industries, due to the sustained rise of emission costs under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) in the last years. The inclusion of additional sectors will contribute to the competitiveness of EU industry while incentivising their decarbonisation.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, French restructuring aid of a total of €167.8 million to airline Corsair. The aid consists of an €80 million write-off on loans that were approved by the Commission in December 2020 and €87.8 million of additional financing. The approval is subject to conditions.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, the reform of the French electricity capacity mechanism. This aid measure aims to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to produce, store or flexibly consume electricity and that electricity production meets the expected demand.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a Belgian €61 million rescue loan to rail freight operator Lineas Group SA/NV. In parallel, following a complaint the Commission received from a stakeholder, it has concluded that two past measures relating to Lineas Group do not constitute State aid.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether public support that Czechia plans to grant for the construction and operation of two new nuclear units in Dukovany is in line with EU State aid rules.

The European Commission has approved a €4.1 billion Hungarian State aid scheme to support strategic investments that add clean technology (cleantech) manufacturing capacity in line with the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal. This measure will contribute to the transition towards a net-zero economy. The scheme was approved under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) adopted by the Commission on 25 June 2025.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a German scheme of up to €1.6 billion to support the deployment of publicly accessible fast-charging stations for electric heavy-duty vehicles (e-HDVs) at non-serviced rest sites along the German motorways. The measure contributes to achieving the objectives of the Commission's European Green Deal and Fit for 55 package, including the development of a cross-border charging network. Electric heavy-duty vehicles are large, powerful trucks or buses that run on electricity instead of diesel.

The Commission addressed one of the most pressing needs of EU citizens by presenting the first European Affordable Housing Plan, focusing on increasing housing supply and triggering investment.
Investments in housing supply have declined over the last decade, and supply has not kept up with demand. This is due to higher construction costs, shortages of skilled labour and red tape.
Under this plan, EU State aid rules have been revised to facilitate financial support from Member States for affordable, and social housing, including: (i) No need for pre-approval from the Commission; (ii) Special exemptions and simplified compliance for non-profit entities; and (iii) Reduced reporting and streamlined checks to minimise procedural hurdles.

The European Commission has approved a €408 million Spanish scheme to support the decarbonisation of manufacturing industry, in line with the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal. This measure will contribute to the transition towards a net-zero economy and is funded under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (‘RRF'). The scheme was approved under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) adopted by the Commission on 25 June 2025.

The European Commission has approved €623 million in German State aid to support the set-up of two new semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Dresden and Erfurt. The aid consists of a €495 million measure for GlobalFoundries and a €128 million measure for X-FAB. The measures will contribute to increasing the EU's autonomy and technological leadership in semiconductor technologies by supporting the construction of first-of-a-kind semiconductor facilities, in line with the objectives set out in the European Chips Act Communication and the Commission's 2024-2029 Political Guidelines.

The Commission takes note of today’s judgment of the General Court that dismisses in full Ryanair’s challenge against the legality of the Commission decision of 21 December 2021 approving EUR 2.55 billion restructuring aid for TAP.
The General Court has confirmed all the Commission’s findings.
See also Curia's press release (in PDF format).

The European Commission has approved €47 million German State aid for Vetter Pharma, a German pharmaceutical service provider. The aid will support the establishment of a new plant for the aseptic filling of injectable medicine into vials and syringes in Saarlouis. The measure will contribute to the  EU's priorities of job creation and regional development, as well as to ensuring affordable medicines in line with the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe.

The European Commission has approved a €1.5 billion Italian State aid scheme to support strategic investments that add clean technologies (cleantech) manufacturing capacity, in line with the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal. This measure will contribute to the transition towards a net-zero economy. The scheme was approved under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) adopted by the Commission on 25 June 2025. The scheme will be co-financed from the Recovery and Resilience Fund.