In the context of the green transition and heightened geopolitical tensions, subsidies and industrial policies have come back to the forefront. Most recently, the Commission has adopted a new Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework and revised the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) to respond to the twin challenges of the energy crisis and the Inflation Reduction Act of the U.S. (IRA), including the related risk of relocation. These EU actions are designed to foster support measures in sectors which are key for the transition to a net-zero economy, in line with the comprehensive Green Deal Industrial Plan, while ensuring a level playing field within the single market.
Besides, the EU has also adopted the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which entered into force on 12 January. It establishes new rules with respect to subsidies received from third countries by undertakings active in the EU, and that can distort the internal market and undermine the level playing field for various economic activities in the EU. It relates notably to the heavy subsidisation for competitive reasons by state-led economies, in particular China and its opaque system of state-owned enterprise. At the same time, multilateral negotiations on modernised WTO legal disciplines on subsidies, which could respond to these and other major trends, are still stalled.
Against this background, the Roundtable will in particular discuss the general practice and experience with EU state aid and subsidies globally, the effectiveness of the new Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework and the revised GBER in tackling the green tech transition and the risks of relocation, including through dialogue and coordination as part of the EU-U.S. Task Force on IRA. It will also touch upon the Foreign Subsidies Regulation’s effectiveness in contributing to fair conditions of competition in the single market, as well as these EU measures’ compliance with WTO law and their potential contribution to the discussions and forthcoming negotiations on modernised WTO legal disciplines on subsidies.
Speakers
- Keynote speaker: Ben Smulders, Deputy Director-General, DG Competition, European Commission
- Moderator: Malorie Schaus, Research Fellow at the CEPS Unit on Global Governance, Regulation, Innovation and the Digital Economy (GRID)
Agenda
Registration and lunch from 12.30 – Meeting from 13.15 to 14.30
- Welcome by CEPS CEO: Karel Lannoo, CEPS
- Keynote speech: Ben Smulders, European Commission
- Follow-up conversation and Q&A
- Moderator: Malorie Schaus
- Speaker: Ben Smulders
- Closing remarks: Malorie Schaus, CEPS
