Press Release: State aid: Commission prohibits Austrian subsidies for energy intensive businesses

The European Commission in March 2011 found a provision of the revised Austrian Green Electricity Act (Ökostromgesetznovelle 2008), partially exempting energy intensive businesses from contributing to the funding of green electricity, to be in breach of EU state aid rules.

After an in-depth investigation, opened in 2009, the Commission concluded that the new provision would have resulted in imposing extra costs on enterprises not qualifying for the exemption.