The European Commission (EC) has adopted new state aid rules, which dictate renewable energy policy design to member states. This includes a requirement for competitive bidding processes for renewable energy plants above 1 MW, and a balancing requirement for all recipients of support.
The new Environmental and Energy Aid Guidelines set requirements for new and revised national support programs during the period 2014-2020. The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA, Brussels) describes the rules as favoring big energy players, discriminatory to small-scale generation and harmful to reaching 2020 renewable energy targets.
