In a welcome move, the European Commission has temporarily revised the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) Guidelines through the Middle East Temporary Crisis Framework (METSAF). CISAF enables Member States to provide short-term electricity price relief for European industry, while supporting the transition to climate neutrality.
Through METSAF, Member States can now temporarily cover a larger share of energy costs with state aid. Higher aid together with greater flexibility to combine schemes – such as CISAF and ETS indirect cost compensation – help Member States deliver targeted support where it is most needed.
Cefic is counting on Member States to quickly implement the CISAF.
In the absence of structural measures, state aid is one of the few tools available to reduce power costs. However, longer-term visibility, besides high costs, remains a bottleneck to industrial electrification.
For that reason, the EU must provide long-term visibility to industrial investors to make industrial transition happen.
Such measures should link clean electricity deployment, industrial demand and long-term price stability. Towards that goal, Cefic has also been calling for setting a KPI on electricity costs, for example a 50€\MWh benchmark for total electricity costs.
The path to climate neutrality must be matched with investment certainty. Affordable electricity is essential for boosting the competitiveness of European industry on the global stage, while enabling the transition.