The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) has approved the NOx Agreement for 2026-2027. As a result, the NOx Fund will now make decisions on all applications that have been pending awaiting this clarification.
Under the Environmental Agreement, business organizations have a collective obligation to reduce NOx emissions in accordance with the biennial emission ceiling set in the Agreement. Individual businesses are granted full exemption from NOx tax, provided they are affiliated to the NOx Fund.
This latest approval covers the years 2026 and 2027and sets an emission ceiling of 161,000 tons of NOx for the two-year period. The NOx Fund will now make decisions on all applications that have been pending awaiting this clarification. An extraordinary board meeting for this purpose is scheduled for June 27.
You can read ESA's decision here.
Note that in the ESA document, point 23 states:
"Furthermore, the Norwegian authorities have committed to respecting the condition in point 14 of the CEEAG that aid cannot be awarded to undertakings in difficulty, as defined in the Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty".
Norwegian authorities will further clarify how this will be followed up for the NOx Agreement.