BRUSSELS, Oct. 3 (EUROPE PRESS) –
The European Commission has said this Monday that it is in contact with the German authorities about the package of 200,000 million euros in aid announced by the Government of Olaf Scholz to lower the energy bill of the country’s final consumers, an initiative that Brussels has avoided assess whether he has pointed out his commitment to “preserve the single market as one of the pillars” of the European economy.
“We are in contact with the German authorities on this matter, I cannot say more,” settled the Community spokeswoman for Competition, Arianna Podesta, after clinging to the principle of confidentiality that Brussels applies to competition issues that it deals with the Member States to avoid responding to if you are concerned about the Berlin initiative.
In matters of State aid, it is the responsibility of the governments themselves to establish whether a certain measure falls within the assumptions of public subsidies that the EU rules oblige them to notify the Community Executive so that it can evaluate the operation and determine whether it is compatible with the single market or puts free competition at risk.
Podesta, who did not want to clarify whether Berlin has informed Brussels in detail of the measure, has indicated that the community services are prepared to “urgently analyze” all the programs that are notified to them in the context of the impact of the war in Ukraine .
Already on Friday, the Commissioner for Industry and the Internal Market, the French Thierry Breton, said through social networks that he had “taken note” of the German plan of 200,000 million euros to face the high cost of energy prices and assured that the institution will “carefully review” it.
Breton also pointed out the need to remain “vigilant on equal conditions” and to gauge what “room for manoeuvre” remains for the rest of the member states.
Without wanting to value Breton’s words, the Community spokeswoman for Competition has also recalled what the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Saturday in a speech that the response to the rise in energy prices must be common and take measures to support businesses and households, although he stressed that this must take place while protecting “the foundations of our economy and, in particular, our single market”.
“Without a common European solution we run a serious risk of fragmentation. Therefore, it is essential that we maintain a level playing field for all in the European Union, in the Single Market,” said Von der Leyen.
