Progress on CSPE tax

A TOP court’s decision has paved the way for possible reimbursements of the CSPE tax that individuals and firms pay as part of electricity bills.

The Conseil d’Etat, the highest administrative court, has today passed a ruling annulling a 2008 decree setting preferential, above-market tariffs paid by EDF to wind turbine owners for their electricity.

This is important because a significant part of CSPE is passed to EDF as compensation for having to pay these rates. The tariffs and compensation deal was ruled to constitute illegal state aid by the Court of Justice of the European Union in December.

The annulment of the 2008 decree should, it is thought, invalidate the CSPE which has been worked out based on it.

Lawyers told Connexion they need to carry out more detailed analysis of the ruling’s impact. It is not yet clear yet how it will effect CSPE refund claims or whether it will now require another case to be taken to the conseil specifically on the issue of the CSPE for this to be resolved.

See June’s newspaper for more on the CSPE refunds and our previous article here.