The article discusses the European Commission’s recent State aid practice regarding lignite- and coal-fired power plants and their decommissioning in the context of the European Green Deal. It is based on the Commission’s decisions regarding the Dutch Hemweg plant, the German coal- and lignite phase-out and the rescue- and restructuring aid in favour of the Romanian electricity producer Complexul Energetic Oltenia. The author considers that the Commission’s mentioned State aid practice is far from living up to the Commission’s binding commitments under the 8th environmental action programme. To ensure that no-one is left behind, as the Green Deal postulates, the author suggests strengthening the rights of interested parties in State aid proceedings and to give environmental NGOs the status of such an interested party, which would also enable them to bring direct actions before the EU Courts.
Keywords: energy; fossil fuels; environmental law; (in)consistency; Green Deal