Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2606 of 22 November 2023 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1001 laying down detailed rules for the application of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the operation of the Modernisation Fund supporting investments to modernise the energy systems and to improve energy efficiency of certain Member States

Type Implementing Regulation
Publication 2023-11-23
State In force
Text As published
Department CLIMA, European Commission
Source EUR-Lex
articles 2

This is the act as published. Later amendments are not folded into the text below: each one is a separate act in this repository and an entry in this law's history.

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Image omitted; see official source Official Journal of the European Union EN Series L
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2023/2606 23.11.2023

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Union and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC 1, and in particular Article 10d(12) thereof,

Whereas:

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Amendments to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1001

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1001 is amended as follows:

  • ‘(6) ‘large-scale scheme’ means a scheme for which the total Modernisation Fund support requested exceeds EUR 100 000 000;
  • (7) ‘large-scale project’ means an investment other than a scheme, for which the total Modernisation Fund support requested exceeds EUR 70 000 000;
  • (8) ‘category of funds’ means any of the following categories of funds available to a beneficiary Member State:
  • (a) funds generated by the auctioning of allowances under Article 10(1), third subparagraph, of Directive 2003/87/EC;
  • (b) funds generated by the auctioning of allowances under Article 10(1), fourth subparagraph, of Directive 2003/87/EC;
  • (c) funds generated by the auctioning of the allowances transferred to the Modernisation Fund under Article 10d(4) of Directive 2003/87/EC;
  • (9) ‘subcategory of funds’ means any of the following subcategories of funds generated by the auctioning of allowances transferred to the Modernisation Fund in accordance with Article 10(1), third subparagraph, of Directive 2003/87/EC:
  • (a) funds generated before 31 December 2027;
  • (b) funds generated between 31 December 2027 and 30 December 2028;
  • (c) funds generated after 30 December 2028.’;

‘2a.   Where an investment concerns a large-scale project, the beneficiary Member State shall submit a proposal in accordance with paragraph 1.

When submitting that proposal, the beneficiary Member State shall specify the amount requested as the first disbursement for the large-scale project and submit a project implementation schedule and a corresponding disbursement schedule.

After the Commission has decided on the first disbursement to the large-scale project under Article 8(1), any subsequent disbursement shall require a separate proposal from the beneficiary Member State specifying the amount to be disbursed and containing updated information on the large-scale project, as appropriate. In addition, the beneficiary Member State shall provide information about the implementation of the project compared to the submitted implementation schedule.

2b.   Beneficiary Member States shall consult the relevant stakeholders on the draft investment proposals for large-scale projects and large-scale schemes, in compliance with the relevant Union or national provisions on the protection of confidential information. Beneficiary Member States shall set reasonable timeframes for the relevant stakeholders to be informed and express their views before the submission of the investment proposals to the EIB.’

;

‘The statement of the available funds shall specify the categories and subcategories of funds available to the beneficiary Member State, as appropriate.’;

‘For each category and subcategory of funds, the statement of the available funds shall specify the following:’;

  • ‘(b) the beneficiary Member State has sufficient funds available in the relevant category or subcategory of funds according to the statement of the available funds referred to in Article 5(1) and after deduction of any amounts to be disbursed for investments already confirmed in accordance with paragraph 9 of this Article;’;
  • ‘— is exempted from the State aid notification in accordance with the applicable State aid rules;’;
  • ‘(ca) the beneficiary Member State has demonstrated that the investment complies with Article 10f of Directive 2003/87/EC, where needed;’;
  • ‘(f) where a proposal concerns a scheme, the duration of the scheme does not exceed five years. This condition shall not prevent the beneficiary Member State from submitting a new investment proposal for the continuation of the scheme in accordance with Article 4.’;

‘8.   Where a proposal concerns a subsequent disbursement for a scheme or a large-scale project confirmed by the EIB in accordance with paragraph 9 prior to the first disbursement and there have been no changes to the scheme or the large-scale project, the EIB may confirm the proposal as a priority investment, provided that the following conditions are met:

  • (a) the investment fulfils the requirements specified in paragraph 7, points (b) and (c);
  • (b) the investment fulfils the requirement specified in paragraph 7, point (ca), except for the schemes confirmed by the EIB in accordance with paragraph 9 before 5 June 2023;
  • (c) the beneficiary Member State provides information about the implementation of the scheme or large-scale project in accordance with Annex I, point 4.2.’

;

‘11.   An investment proposal that substantially duplicates a prior proposal not confirmed by the EIB is inadmissible.’

;

  • ‘(b) the beneficiary Member State has sufficient funds available in the relevant category or subcategory of funds according to the statement of the available funds referred to in Article 5(1) and after deduction of any amounts to be disbursed according to information specified in Article 6(10) and on the basis of the recommendations already issued in accordance with paragraph 9 of this Article;’;

‘where the proposed investment is to be financed from revenues generated from the auctioning of the allowances referred to in Article 10(1), third subparagraph, of Directive 2003/87/EC, or of the allowances transferred to the Modernisation Fund under Article 10d(4) of that Directive, the share of the funds allocated to priority investments is at least 80 % of the revenue from allowances referred to in Article 10(1), third subparagraph, and from allowances transferred to the Modernisation Fund under Article 10d(4) of Directive 2003/87/EC used by the beneficiary Member State, including the following funds:’;

  • ‘(ca) where the proposed investment is to be financed by the revenues generated from the auctioning of the allowances referred to in Article 10(1), fourth subparagraph, of Directive 2003/87/EC, the share of the funds allocated to priority investments is at least 90 % of the revenue from allowances referred to in Article 10(1), fourth subparagraph, used by the beneficiary Member State, including the following funds:
  • — funds already disbursed for priority and non-priority investments,
  • — funds still to be disbursed according to the information specified in Article 6(10),
  • — funds still to be disbursed in accordance with a recommendation already issued under paragraph 9,
  • — funds requested for the investment proposal under assessment;’;
  • ‘— it is exempted from the State aid notification in accordance with applicable State aid rules;’;
  • ‘(ea) the beneficiary Member State has demonstrated that the investment complies with Article 10f of Directive 2003/87/EC, where needed;’;
  • ‘(h) where a proposal concerns a scheme, the duration of the scheme does not exceed five years. This condition shall not prevent the beneficiary Member State from submitting a new investment proposal for the continuation of the scheme.’;

‘8.   Where a proposal concerns a subsequent disbursement for a scheme or a large-scale project recommended for the financing by the Investment Committee in accordance with paragraph 9 prior to the first disbursement and there have been no changes to the scheme or the large-scale project, the Investment Committee may recommend the proposal for financing, provided that the following conditions are met:

  • (a) the investment fulfils the requirements specified in paragraph 7, points (b) to (e);
  • (b) the investment fulfils the requirement specified in paragraph 7, point (ea), except for the schemes recommended for financing by the Investment Committee in accordance with paragraph 9 before 5 June 2023;
  • (c) the beneficiary Member State provides information about the implementation of the scheme or large-scale project in accordance with Annex I, point 4.2.’

;

‘11.   An investment proposal that substantially duplicates a prior proposal not recommended by the Investment Committee is inadmissible.’

;

‘2.   The Commission shall notify the disbursement decision to the beneficiary Member State concerned and inform thereof the EIB, the Investment Committee and, where relevant, the non-beneficiary Member State in which the adjacent Union border region involved in the investment is located.’

;

‘Article 10

Discontinued investments

  1. Subject to the annual report submitted by the beneficiary Member State under Article 13, an investment shall be deemed discontinued in either of the following cases:

a) the beneficiary Member State or the scheme managing authority has not entered, within two years from the latest transmission of funds by the EIB under Article 9, a legal commitment with the project proponent or any of the scheme’s final recipients to finance the investment;

b) the beneficiary Member State or the scheme managing authority has not awarded any support to the investment for more than two years since entering the legal commitment to finance the investment with the project proponent or any of the scheme’s final recipients, unless the beneficiary Member State can demonstrate that the investment is being implemented and that support will be awarded within a reasonable time.

  1. In the decision adopted under Article 8 the Commission shall modify the amount already disbursed for the discontinued investment by deducting any amount not yet legally committed where the investment is discontinued under paragraph 1, point (a), or not yet awarded where the investment is discontinued under paragraph 1, point (b). Any such amount shall increase the resources in the Modernisation Fund available to the Member State concerned under Article 5(2)(b) and be set off against any future payment by the EIB to the Member State concerned under Article 9. The Commission shall inform the EIB about the need to offset such amount.
  1. Without prejudice to paragraph 1 of this Article, prior to the closing date of the statement of the available funds, set out in Article 5(3), the beneficiary Member State may inform the Commission about a discontinued investment and request a modification of the disbursement decision in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article. This request may concern the amounts not yet covered by a legal commitment or not yet paid to the project proponent or the final recipients of the Modernisation Fund support and the amounts already paid to the project proponent or the final recipients of the Modernisation Fund support, but subsequently recovered by the beneficiary Member State. The beneficiary Member State shall provide documentary evidence justifying the request.

Paragraph 2 shall apply to the modification of the disbursement decision, to the increase of the resources in the Modernisation Fund available to the Member State concerned, and to setting off the amount returned to the Fund against any future payment by the EIB to the Member State.’

;

‘3a.   Where an investment proposal is to be financed exclusively from the revenues generated from the auctioning of the allowances referred to in Article 10(1), third subparagraph of Directive 2003/87/EC or of the allowances transferred to the Modernisation Fund under Article 10d(4), of that Directive, the representatives of the beneficiary Member States entitled to deliberate and cast a vote shall be only those specified in Part A of Annex IIb to Directive 2003/87/EC.

3b.   Where an investment proposal involves an adjacent Union border region located in a non-beneficiary Member State which is represented in the Investment Committee, and the representative of the EIB does not endorse financing of that investment proposal, the representative of that non-beneficiary Member State shall not be entitled to cast a vote on the proposal.’

;

‘1.   The EIB shall develop asset management guidelines to manage the revenues from the Modernisation Fund, to ensure that those revenues are managed in accordance with the objectives of Directive 2003/87/EC and the internal rules of the EIB.’

;

‘ Monitoring, reporting and forward planning by the beneficiary Member States ’ ;

  • (b) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.   The annual report referred to in paragraph 1 shall be accompanied by an overview of the investments in respect of which the beneficiary Member State intends to submit investment proposals in the next two calendar years, with an outlook until 2030, as well as by updated information on investments covered by any previous overview.’

;

‘3.   The overview and, to the extent possible, the outlook until 2030 referred to in paragraph 2 shall contain the information specified in Annex III.

  1. The information included in the overview referred to in paragraph 2 shall not be binding for the beneficiary Member State when submitting investment proposals under Article 4.
  1. Beneficiary Member States shall ensure that the relevant stakeholders are consulted on the draft of the overview referred to in paragraph 2. Beneficiary Member States shall set reasonable timeframes for the relevant stakeholders to be informed and express their views before the overview is submitted to the Commission.’

;

‘Article 13a

Monitoring and reporting by non-beneficiary Member States concerning investments involving the adjacent Union border regions

Where the beneficiary Member State uses the resources allocated to it to finance investments involving the adjacent Union border region, the non-beneficiary Member State in which that region is located shall provide to the beneficiary Member State any information and documentary evidence that is necessary for the beneficiary Member State to comply with Article 13.’

;

  • ‘(a) the number of investment proposals received and investment proposals confirmed, including the specification of the investment area and the corresponding amounts;
  • (b) the number of recommendations issued, summary conclusions for each recommendation and the amounts of recommended investments;’;
  • ‘(e) the main data and conclusions regarding the annual reports submitted by the beneficiary Member States in accordance with Article 13(1).’;

‘The EIB shall prepare annual accounts of the Modernisation Fund for each financial year, which shall run from 1 January to 31 December.’;

‘4.   The beneficiary Member States shall ensure that an audit of the use of the amounts paid from the Modernisation Fund by the beneficiary Member State or the scheme managing authority to the project proponent or the final recipients of the Modernisation Fund support takes place every two years. The beneficiary Member State shall provide the Commission and the EIB with the audit report without undue delay.’

;

‘1.   The beneficiary Member States shall make publicly available on the websites of the relevant departments of their administrations information on the investments supported under this Regulation, in order to inform the public of the role and objectives of the Modernisation Fund. Such information shall include an appropriate label in accordance with Article 30m, paragraphs 1 and 2, of Directive 2003/87/EC.

  1. The beneficiary Member States shall ensure that the final recipients of the Modernisation Fund support comply with the requirements on the visibility of funding from EU ETS auctioning revenues set out in Article 30m of Directive 2003/87/EC. To this end, the beneficiary Member States or the scheme managing authorities shall include the relevant obligations in the agreements with the final recipients of the Modernisation Fund support and monitor compliance with those obligations, including by checking the publicity materials the final recipients use.’

;

Article 2

Entry into force and application

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2024.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 22 November 2023.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

2

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1001 of 9 July 2020 laying down detailed rules for the application of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the operation of the Modernisation Fund supporting investments to modernise the energy systems and to improve energy efficiency of certain Member States (OJ L 221, 10.7.2020, p. 107).

3

Directive (EU) 2023/959 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 amending Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Union and Decision (EU) 2015/1814 concerning the establishment and operation of a market stability reserve for the Union greenhouse gas emission trading system (OJ L 130, 16.5.2023, p. 134).

4

Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (OJ L 198, 22.6.2020, p. 13).

5

Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, amending Regulations (EC) No 663/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Directives 94/22/EC, 98/70/EC, 2009/31/EC, 2009/73/EC, 2010/31/EU, 2012/27/EU and 2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 2009/119/EC and (EU) 2015/652 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 328 21.12.2018, p. 1).

ANNEX I

‘ANNEX I

Information about investment proposals to be submitted to the EIB and to the Investment Committee

1. All investment proposals

2. Additional information about schemes

3. Additional information about proposals other than schemes

4. Additional information about large-scale projects or about existing schemes

5. Additional information about non-priority proposals

’

6

Regulation (EU) 2021/1056 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 establishing the Just Transition Fund (OJ L 231 30.6.2021, p. 1).

ANNEX II

‘ANNEX II

Information to be provided by the beneficiary Member State in the annual report to the Commission

1. Overview of investments

2. Information on each investment

3. Additional information about implementation of investments

4. Additional information about non-priority investments

5. Additional information about auditing and protecting the financial interests of the Modernisation Fund

6. Additional information about stakeholders’ involvement

’

ANNEX III

‘ANNEX III

Information to be provided by the beneficiary Member State in the overview of investments planned in the next two calendar years and, where possible, the outlook until 2030

1.

Information on each investment:

2.

Information about the outcome of stakeholder consultation on the draft overview of investments under Article 13(5), including information about the dates and form of consultation carried out, the types of stakeholders consulted, the number of replies received and a summary of the replies.

’

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2023/2606/oj

ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)

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