EU: Green light for green cooperations: competition authorities welcome joint decarbonisation projects with new guidance

The German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) and the European Commission (Commission) have recently sent clear and positive signals for cooperation initiatives aimed at reducing CO₂ emissions. Both authorities have repeatedly invited companies to proactively approach them with sustainability cooperations and noted that only actual cases could result in shaping the authorities’ practice and provide guidance for others. The recent consultations show that companies should indeed be encouraged to seek advice from competition authorities and continue to progress with their ESG projects.

First mover for joint CO₂ transport

Open Grid Europe (OGE), Germany’s largest gas transmission operator, is embarking on two major new CO₂ pipeline projects. One involves a partnership with ONTRAS in eastern Germany, and the other with Belgium’s Fluxys. With these projects, the companies aim to transport captured CO₂ from key industrial sectors to long-term storage under the North Sea and Danish mainland, supporting decarbonisation through carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Existing gas pipelines cannot be repurposed for CO₂, so new dedicated networks are required. For both ventures, the cooperation partners have agreed upon which pipeline sections each will construct. Long-term contracts with anchor customers are planned to provide investment certainty for all parties involved.

Recognising the novel scale of these projects and the substantial investment volumes in the lower billions for each project, OGE proactively consulted the FCO. According to President Andreas Mundt, there are no immediate antitrust concerns, as the companies would not have built competing pipelines independently in the short term. The FCO allowed for appropriate information exchange for the technical coordination but clarified important limitations from a competition law perspective: the cooperation may only extend as far as strictly necessary, ensuring the network operators remain competitors outside of these projects. While this is in line with standard legal advice in similar projects, it establishes important guidance, as the FCO expressly confirms that safeguards such as the need-to-know principle are appropriate to mitigate competition law risks. 

Key safeguards endorsed by the FCO include:

• Each partner building their own pipeline sections, collaborating only where necessary,
• information sharing strictly limited to planning and technical requirements, and
• long-term anchor customer contracts to underpin investment security.

The FCO also notes that the German CO₂ transport market is still in its infancy and evolving rapidly. Future joint ventures may face closer review if demand grows or market conditions change. Importantly, the companies themselves are responsible for ensuring ongoing compliance with antitrust law. 

This guidance not only paves the way for Germany’s journey to net zero. It is at the same time an important practical example of how competition policy can support innovative ESG infrastructure.

Joint reduction of EU port emissions

The Commission also recently issued informal guidance in favour of a sustainability agreement for electric container-handling equipment in European ports. This agreement involves joint purchasing and standard setting, with the goal of reducing port emissions. As one of the first guidance letters under the revised Notice on Informal Guidance (2022), the Commission found the initiative compatible with competition laws – as long as information sharing is strictly limited to what is needed for the agreement’s operation.

This development reinforces the message: well-designed cooperative projects with genuine sustainability aims can succeed under competition law, provided that key safeguards are respected.