Fondul Proprietatea: Security of Electricity Supply under Energy Law and under State Aid Law · Case C‑179/20 Fondul Proprietatea

Abstract

Case C-179/20 is an exemplary illustration of how legislative and regulatory interventions by the national authorities in the field of energy can give rise to questions of compliance with EU energy law, but also to questions of compatibility with State aid law. Indeed, in the early 2010s, and in transposing Directive 2009/72 that established common rules for the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity, the Romanian State reformed her national legislation on energy, and she adopted an administrative decision on the operation of the electricity transmission system, which contained beneficial terms for two electricity companies. This decision gave rise to a legal dispute between the Romanian State and the beneficiaries, on the one hand, and another electricity generation company, which considered it was harmed, on the other. The CJEU examined whether granting to certain thermal power stations priority dispatch, guaranteed access to the grid, and the guaranteed provision of ancillary services at regulated prices constituted State aid that should have been notified to the Commission, as per Article 108(3) TFEU.