Italian ETS reimbursement measure unlikely to secure European Commission approval

• Legal experts say Italian ETS reimbursement measure unlikely to secure European Commission approval
• Selective and structural nature may conflict with EU State aid rules
• ICIS Analytics model suggests measure would distort market, lift Italian gas-fired generation

LONDON (ICIS)–Legal experts told ICIS that article 6 of the Italian “DL Bollette” energy decree – which introduces an ETS-linked compensation mechanism for gas-fired power producers – is unlikely to be approved by the European Commission because of its selective and structural, rather than exceptional, nature.

ICIS spoke to Piero Vigano, partner and coordinator of the energy and infrastructure department, and Francesco Mazzocchi, counsel in competition and European Union law at law firm ADVANT Nctm, who said that, as the decree stands, “the likelihood that the European Commission will authorize the measure does not appear to be high.”

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