The German Association of Industrial Energy Consumers (VIK - Verband der Industriellen Energie- und Kraftwirtschaft e. V.) welcomes the opportunity to participate in the public consultation on the EU Commission’s proposal for the revised rules for State aid promoting the green and digital transition within the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) and supports the Commission’s intention to align the current GBER with the objectives of the European Green Deal and the EU Industrial Strategy. The GBER is a key instrument in the industrial transformation towards a climate neutral economy. The revision of the GBER must support the right framework for European Industry to contribute to the transition, while remaining competitive on a global scale. However, the transition to a climate-neutral economy entails challenges. For industrial energy users, these challenges relate to the availability and access to climate-neutral energy at globally competitive prices. Secondly, the transition will require enormous investments to develop, upscale and implement new or existing decarbonisation technologies, both in new and existing plants. These investment costs cannot be borne solely by the industrial companies and must be limited for them, given the high level of global competition they face from competitors operating under less constrained conditions. A well-revised state aid framework is extremely important to provide companies with the much-needed financial support and long-term regulatory certainty.