Today, Austria and Slovenia have submitted requests to the European Commission to revise their recovery and resilience plans and incorporate REPowerEU chapters.
Austria’s proposed REPowerEU chapter introduces two key reforms. The first reform aims to streamline permitting procedures for renewable energy projects, while the second focuses on adopting and implementing a national Hydrogen Strategy to increase the production and utilization of renewable hydrogen. Additionally, Austria’s chapter includes a support scheme for citizen-owned and non-profit organizations’ rooftop solar power installations, along with scaling up investments for zero-emission commercial vehicles and the development of recharging infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road transport. Austria also intends to make changes to several investments outlined in the original plan.
The decision to modify Austria’s plan is based on considerations of high inflation experienced in 2022, as well as supply chain disruptions and increased investment uncertainty in 2021-2022. Moreover, Austria’s maximum grant allocation from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) has been revised upward from €3.5 billion to €3.75 billion as part of the June 2022 update to the RRF grants allocation key.
Slovenia’s proposed plan modification includes two reforms and four investments to support the objectives of REPowerEU. The reforms aim to facilitate renewable energy deployment, streamline permitting procedures, and promote sustainable mobility. The investments focus on accelerating the decarbonization of Slovenia’s industry, strengthening the national energy distribution network, and promoting sustainable mobility in the public and private sectors. Slovenia also plans to remove certain investments, such as flood protection measures, from its plan to ensure compliance with environmental standards. These investments will be financed using national funds and implemented on a different timeline.
Slovenia’s request for plan modification takes into account the significant inflation experienced in 2022 and the need to adjust the timeline for certain measures due to objective circumstances. Furthermore, Slovenia’s maximum RRF grant allocation has been revised downward from €1.8 billion to €1.5 billion, reflecting the country’s better economic outcome in 2020 and 2021 than initially projected, as part of the June 2022 update to the RRF grants allocation key.
Additionally, Slovenia has requested a reduction in the amount of loans financing its plan from €0.7 billion to €0.55 billion, considering the removal of specific investments originally included in the plan. Slovenia has also proposed transferring its entire share of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR), amounting to €5 million, to its recovery and resilience plan. These funds, combined with Slovenia’s REPowerEU grants allocation of €116 million, bring the total value of the modified plan to €2.16 billion.
The European Commission will now evaluate whether Austria and Slovenia’s modified plans meet the assessment criteria outlined in the RRF Regulation. The assessment processes will be conducted separately for each country. If the Commission’s assessments are positive, it will present proposals for amended Council Implementing Decisions reflecting the changes to the Slovenian and Austrian plans. Subsequently, Member States will need to endorse each of the Commission’s assessments.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_3872