Austria activates subsidies for industrial electricity bills without waiting for EU measures. “An endless bureaucracy”
The Austrian government on Sunday blamed the “endless bureaucracy” of the EU for the delay in approving a common rule of support for industry in the member states, in the context of high energy prices, and announced that it will activate its own subsidy system starting on Monday, EFE and Agerpres report.
“We will no longer wait for the EU's approval. The EU's authorization of the subsidy for industrial electricity has been delayed week after week”, criticized the economy minister, conservative Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer.
The Austrian minister said that “endless red tape” is hindering investment and activity in European industry and called for a faster decision.
Therefore, the ministry will open the application portal on Monday, allocating 150 million euros for this year and retroactively until 2025.
The grants are intended for companies of all sizes that produce paper, pig iron, steel and ferrous alloys and that consume more than one gigawatt-hour of electricity per year.
In addition, the company must have an energy audit and an environmental management plan and allocate at least 80% of the subsidy to improve energy efficiency in its production.
The Ministry expects that approximately 60 companies, with a total of 30,000 employees, will apply for this aid.
European Union leaders on March 20 urged the European Commission to “present without delay” measures to tackle current oil and gas prices, which have skyrocketed since the start of the Middle East war, and to reduce electricity bills for industry in EU member states.
