• The proposed low-carbon hydrogen definition (70% emission savings compared to unabated fossil fuels) has been adopted by the Commission in July. However, it still requires approval from the Parliament and the Council, currently expected for November 

• The Commission proposed its 2040 EU Climate target in July, amending the EU Climate Law and aiming to reduce EU net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% relative to 1990’s levels. Again, the proposal still needs approval from Parliament and Council, which is not expected before end of October.  

• The Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) entered into force end of June and will be effective until the end of 2030. While the framework simplifies and speeds up state aid processes for facilitating industrial decarbonisation and clean energy production, it operates in parallel to the existing Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy (CEEAG). 

• The EIB approved its Lending Envelope of € 500 million for guarantees support midcaps and larger corporates to sign guarantees on corporate power purchase agreements (cPPA) with renewable energy suppliers. It will remain interesting to monitor to what extent the offer will be taken up by firms, addressing a genuine financing gap. 

• The Commission has also published several guidance documents as planned, including: 

• • Recommendations on tax incentives to support the CID, by boosting private investments while maintaining a fair competitive environment. The recommendations include accelerated depreciation, immediate expensing, and targeted tax credits.  

• • Guidance on establishing future proof network charges to reduce energy system costs. They advocate among other for the inclusion of peak capacity elements, time-of-use components and locational signals, while avoiding double-charging for storage.  

• • The Hydrogen mechanism bringing together buyers and sellers on a transparent platform opened registration in July 2025, and the first round of matching is expected in October.  

• • The third Hydrogen bank auction has been rescheduled to December, with an expected budget of 1.1 € billion. In addition, 7 of the 15 companies awarded support in the second Hydrogen bank auction in May 2025 have since withdrawn. As a result, firms from the reserve list will now begin preparing documentation, with the final list of successful applicants also expected by the end of 2025.  

• The plans to release a Citizens Energy Package aimed at empowering households and communities in the energy transition, including guidance on customer switching to cheaper suppliers, have been moved to 2026. 

• While the EC has launched a comprehensive CBAM review in Q3, including multiple public consultations, a final report is still outstanding. The aim of the review is to assess the feasibility of 

• • extending CBAM to additional EU ETS sectors and downstream products 

• • including indirect emissions across all CBAM sectors  

• • closing possible circumvention risks 

• • addressing the problem of carbon leakage of goods exported to third countries 

• The European Grid Package, initially planned for 2026, has been moved forward to November 2025. The package will contain legislative proposals and non-legislative measures touching on crucial issues, including network planning, efficient use of networks, cost sharing mechanisms and financing and supply chain. We also discuss these topics in our recent article. 

• A White Paper on deeper electricity market integration, initially planned for mid-2026, will likely be published alongside the European Grid Package. It is expected to focus on governance issues and introducing more flexibility into the market, rather than proposing deep electricity market design reforms.   

​​​Figure​ 1 Main initiatives set out in the Clean Industrial Deal