PUBLIC SUBSIDIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND ENERGY SAVING IN RESPECT OF THE COMPETITION POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE YEARS 2004–2012

The aim of this paper is to discuss the legal and economic aspects of granting state aid for environmental protection in the Member States in respect of the competition policy of the European Union in the years 2004–2012. For the purpose of this study, deductive, descriptive and criticalcognitive methods were applied in order to analyze the theoretical knowledge contained in the literature of the subject as well as in legal and normative acts. Empirical data were derived from studies, documents and reports of the DirectorateGeneral for Competition of the European Commission and the Offi ce of Competition and Consumer Protection. Based on the study, in the years 2004–2012 in the EU horizontal objectives mostly involved aid granted for the purposes of environmental protection (123 bln EUR, 24.3%). The total expenditure for environmental protection in the EU was strongly determined by decisions taken by Germany and Sweden. The most signifi - cant benefi ciaries who were granted such aid were entrepreneurs from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Austria and Spain. More than half of the decisions (54%) issued by the European Commission were taken by fi ve countries: Italy, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. Investments in renewable sources of energy were most often subsidized. Moreover, companies were granted aid in order to adjust to requirements stricter than the EU standards in the fi eld of environment. A smaller percentage of aid was allocated to fi nance environmental research and to improve energy effi ciency (cogeneration, including heating and cooling systems). Analysis of the structure of the preferred instruments indicates that 77% of aid was granted as tax reductions and exemptions and the other 23% in the form of direct subsidies. In the years 2004–2012 state fi nancial aid in Poland was mainly granted by the fi scal and customs authorities (77%) as well as in the form of subsidies and loans granted by the President of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (20%). Since the year 2008 a signifi cant increase in aid including reduction of the excise tax in the sector of biofuels has been reporte