Last updated: July 27th 2026

State aid

In this spirit of decarbonisation and competitiveness and the context multiple geopolitical crises, the Commission has been revising the rules on State aid in a number of priority areas, including climate, energy and industrial decarbonisation.

Currently, four documents compose the EU framework for State aid, which is pivotal for hydrogen, plus a temporary State aid framework which addresses the fuel price spikes resulting from the crisis in the Middle East :

  • Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy (CEEAG);
  • General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) (currently under revision);
  • the Communication on Criteria for the analysis of the compatibility with the internal market of State aid to promote the execution of important projects of common European interest (2021);
  • Clean Industrial State Aid Framework (CISAF)
  • Middle East Crisis Temporary State aid Framework (METSAF)

Although there is tight control on State aid under Treaty provisions for the integrity of the Single Market, there are some exceptions allowed, provided they do not distort competition and are compatible with the internal market. State aid could not be allocated by each single Member States without prior scrutiny of the European Commission via a notification procedure, especially when referring to the CEEAG or the CISAF. Still, a few exceptions apply, as the de minimis regime and the GBER allows Member States to avoid notification in order to subsidise national projects through own resources if compliant with the legislation.

The Guidelines on state aid for climate, environmental protection and energy 2022

The new guidelines entered into force on 28th January 2022. They work together with other aid State aid measures relating to hydrogen projects, while adding a new complementary level applying to integrated and large European cross-border hydrogen projects across the value-chain. The aim of the guidelines is to enable the Green Deal objectives by broadening the categories of green investments and technologies that Member States can support to reach climate objectives. The focus of the guidelines is to accelerate the roll-out of renewable energies and those technologies that reduce GHG emissions and foster energy efficiency.

Within the new CEEAG, which entered into force in 2022, hydrogen related activities are widely covered. This includes its production and use throughout the value chain, such as buildings, clean mobility (and related infrastructure), circular economy, energy infrastructure and district heating and cooling. According to the new provisions, aid can go up to 100% of the funding gap where competitive bidding is foreseen, covering the entire net extra costs (CAPEX and OPEX) of the projects. Aid to produce low-carbon hydrogen is also foreseen, as well as for the construction of CCUS equipment, even though the threshold and intensities for such activities are lower compared to the support granted to renewable hydrogen.

Clean Industrial State Aid Framework

The TCTF was replaced by the Clean Industrial State Aid Framework (CISAF) which will be in force until 31 December 2030. This new state aid framework will accompany the Clean Industrial Deal (CID), published in February 2025. The CID presents measures to boost every stage of production, with a focus on energy-intensive industries such as steel, metals, and chemicals, that need support to decarbonise and the clean-tech sector. 

 The goal of the CISAF is to accelerate the rollout of renewable energy and low-carbon, to deploy industrial decarbonisation, to ensure sufficient manufacturing capacity in clean technology, and to reduce risks of private investments. The CISAF framework puts a strong emphasis on private finance, covering mechanisms such as tax advantages, tax credits, subsidised interest rates on new loans and guarantees.

The CISAF broadened the scope of the framework regarding included technologies and increases the aid intensity for hydrogen use in industrial applications to 50% and to 45% for the renewable energy rollout. It also proposes a new approach to cumulation, possible on different and same eligible costs. On the same costs (with both EU funding and other State aid measures), cumulation is only allowed if it does not exceed the highest support intensity or amount applicable under any of the relevant rules.

The Green Deal General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER)

The European Commission has proposed a revised GBER and will adopt an updated framework for block-exempted aid by the end of 2026. The GBER is a tool that aims to facilitate State aid support to companies, without Member States having to notify the Commission. This instrument is also expected to have a positive impact on the deployment of hydrogen as it covers the whole hydrogen value chain, such as renewable hydrogen production, infrastructure (for renewable hydrogen or more than 50% of renewable hydrogen/gases), industry decarbonisation (including the use of renewable hydrogen, renewable hydrogen derivatives and low-carbon hydrogen) and the deployment of vehicle fleets and hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS, using renewable and low-carbon hydrogen).

The proposal put forward by the Commission on the 2026 GBER revision:

  • Abandons the threshold of EUR 300 million per year for the sum of the budgets of all relevant aid schemes in a Member State for investment aid for climate protection (Article 51) and for energy infrastructure (Article 66), including transmission and distribution sections. 
  • Introduces the option of determining the aid amount for energy infrastructure on the basis of an aid intensity (in addition to the existing options of a competitive bidding process or a funding-gap calculation). 
  • Allows flexibility for low-carbon hydrogen and aligns with CISAF’s 40% quota for RFNBOs when aid is provided for production and utilisation.
  • Simplifies conditions for GBER aid involved in financial products and allows for cumulation.

IPCEIs

Lastly, the Communication on Projects of Common Interest was revised under the general review of competition policy initiated by the European Commission. The revised communication was published in December 2021 and it serves to give guidance on the assessment of public financing of IPCEIs (such as the one on hydrogen) under state aid rules. Member States can use IPCEIs to pool financial resources, act quickly and connect the right players along key value chains. They are a catalyst for investment and allow Member States to fund large-scale innovation projects across borders in case of market failures. Moreover, the communication applies to large European integrated cross-border hydrogen projects of different TRL levels (RDI, First Industrial Deployment (FID) and Infrastructure deployment) across the value chain.

Until today, four IPCEIs in the hydrogen value chain have been launched. The four IPCEIs include 99 companies in 16 Member States and Norway including up to €18,9 billion State aid which is expected to unlock more than €27,1 billion of additional private investment.

The Middle East Crisis Temporary State Aid Framework (METSAF)

On 29 April 2026 the European Commission adopted a new State aid framework to enable Member States to support the EU economy in the context of the Middle East crisis.

METSAF allows Member States to provide aid to companies in the agriculture, fisheries and transport sector (road, rail, inland waterways transport and intra-EU short sea shipping): 

  • up to 70% of the extra costs due to the price increase of fuel and fertiliser caused by the crisis, verified at the level of the beneficiary;

In addition, the METSAF allows to increase the aid intensity of electricity price relief schemes approved under section 4.5 of the Clean Industrial Deal State aid Framework (CISAF) from 50% to up to 70% for the electricity cost of the eligible consumption with no increase in the decarbonisation effort required. A cumulation with aid granted under the ETS State aid Guidelines will be possible for up to half of the aid amount granted under Section 4.5 CISAF schemes. METSAF will be in place until 31 December 2026. While METSAF doesn’t introduce additional decarbonsiation requirements, State aid granted under this framework can support the spikes in electricity prices thus influencing the price of hydrogen.

 

What’s in it for hydrogen?

The revision of State aid rules facilitates public support to the development of key industrial sectors and innovative value chains and is proven to give leverage to the deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and their role in steering the energy transition, via potential increased funding channels and amounts. This is especially the case under the CEEAG and CISAF, where different categories of State aid measures can directly or indirectly support the hydrogen sector in a wide range of activities, operative costs needs may be considered and aid intensities may reach 100% in case of competitive bidding processes.

So far, the four IPCEI waves in the hydrogen sector (Hy2Tech, Hy2Use, Hy2Infra, Hy2Move) gave a substantial impetus to the development of various segments of the hydrogen industry. The inclusion and collaboration of a high number of Member States in these IPCEI waves also provides essential geographical diversity, which helps the ramp up of the sector on an EU-wide scale.

The proposal for a revised GBER framework, will allow further flexibility for Member States to design schemes without the tight budget caps, nevertheless – the aid granted per undertaking is likely to stay lower in order to avoid competition issues. 

While CEEAG, CISAF, and IPCEIs are necessary for notifying substantial amounts of State aid for hydrogen projects, GBER is rather targeted at lower aid amounts mostly used by the Member States for aid for R&D projects.

 

Links to the original document and additional information:
General Block Exemption Regulation
Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy

Communication on Criteria for the analysis of the compatibility with the internal market of State aid to promote the execution of important projects of common European interest

Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework

The Middle East Crisis Temporary State Aid Framework (METSAF)