State Aid Law Blog

State Aid Uncovered Blog

In Lexxion’s State Aid Uncovered blog, Prof. Phedon Nicolaides publishes weekly critical analyses of recent State aid judgments and decisions. Each post presents the key points of a court judgment or EU Commission decision, places it in the context of similar case law or practice, assesses the underlying reasoning and highlights any inconsistencies or contradictions.

Guest contributions from other State aid experts will also be published on the blog at irregular intervals to complement the content of the blog posts.

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- Hungary ×

A new misnomer in State aid law: single economic unit with separate legal personality (C 357/14 P, Dunamenti Erőmű/Commission)

The following blog post is a contributory piece by Emanuela Matei, Associate Researcher at the Centre of European Legal Studies, Bucharest. Matei holds a Juris Master in European Business Law (Lund University, June 2012), a Magister legum (Lund University, June 2010) and a BSc in Economics & Business Administration (Lund University, June 2009). We are very glad to welcome her […]

In Brief: Case C‑672/13, OTP Bank Nyrt v Magyar Állam, Magyar Államkincstár

A quick look at the latest ruling of the CJEU from Thursday 19th March.   In Case C‑672/13 OTP Bank the CJEU responded to preliminary ruling questions from the Hungarian Fővárosi Törvényszék relating to the categorisation of an agency agreement concluded in 2008 between the the Ministry of Local Government, the State Treasury and OTP Bank on the basis of Paragraph 24(15) of […]

Market Operator in Electricity Distribution: Long-term Purchasing Agreements Must Balance Risks and Rewards

A market operator accepts to be bound in long-term contracts, which entail more risk because market conditions may change, only when he gets compensated with more certainty that costs will remain stable. Contractual clauses which vary from standard commercial practice are suspect. A measure can be selective even when it uses objective criteria to define eligible beneficiaries. Trade can be affected and competition […]

Fiscal Leveraging: Donations and State Aid for Culture and Sports

Introduction In this blog I examine primarily a Dutch measure that supports cultural institutions by providing tax incentives to individuals and corporations to make donations to those institutions. This is an unusual construction because the direct beneficiaries are different from the indirect beneficiaries which, however, are the main targets of the measure. This construction has been used rather extensively in […]

- Hungary ×

A new misnomer in State aid law: single economic unit with separate legal personality (C 357/14 P, Dunamenti Erőmű/Commission)

The following blog post is a contributory piece by Emanuela Matei, Associate Researcher at the Centre of European Legal Studies, Bucharest. Matei holds a Juris Master in European Business Law (Lund University, June 2012), a Magister legum (Lund University, June 2010) and a BSc in Economics & Business Administration (Lund University, June 2009). We are very glad to welcome her […]

In Brief: Case C‑672/13, OTP Bank Nyrt v Magyar Állam, Magyar Államkincstár

A quick look at the latest ruling of the CJEU from Thursday 19th March.   In Case C‑672/13 OTP Bank the CJEU responded to preliminary ruling questions from the Hungarian Fővárosi Törvényszék relating to the categorisation of an agency agreement concluded in 2008 between the the Ministry of Local Government, the State Treasury and OTP Bank on the basis of Paragraph 24(15) of […]

Market Operator in Electricity Distribution: Long-term Purchasing Agreements Must Balance Risks and Rewards

A market operator accepts to be bound in long-term contracts, which entail more risk because market conditions may change, only when he gets compensated with more certainty that costs will remain stable. Contractual clauses which vary from standard commercial practice are suspect. A measure can be selective even when it uses objective criteria to define eligible beneficiaries. Trade can be affected and competition […]

Fiscal Leveraging: Donations and State Aid for Culture and Sports

Introduction In this blog I examine primarily a Dutch measure that supports cultural institutions by providing tax incentives to individuals and corporations to make donations to those institutions. This is an unusual construction because the direct beneficiaries are different from the indirect beneficiaries which, however, are the main targets of the measure. This construction has been used rather extensively in […]

- Hungary ×

A new misnomer in State aid law: single economic unit with separate legal personality (C 357/14 P, Dunamenti Erőmű/Commission)

The following blog post is a contributory piece by Emanuela Matei, Associate Researcher at the Centre of European Legal Studies, Bucharest. Matei holds a Juris Master in European Business Law (Lund University, June 2012), a Magister legum (Lund University, June 2010) and a BSc in Economics & Business Administration (Lund University, June 2009). We are very glad to welcome her […]

In Brief: Case C‑672/13, OTP Bank Nyrt v Magyar Állam, Magyar Államkincstár

A quick look at the latest ruling of the CJEU from Thursday 19th March.   In Case C‑672/13 OTP Bank the CJEU responded to preliminary ruling questions from the Hungarian Fővárosi Törvényszék relating to the categorisation of an agency agreement concluded in 2008 between the the Ministry of Local Government, the State Treasury and OTP Bank on the basis of Paragraph 24(15) of […]

Market Operator in Electricity Distribution: Long-term Purchasing Agreements Must Balance Risks and Rewards

A market operator accepts to be bound in long-term contracts, which entail more risk because market conditions may change, only when he gets compensated with more certainty that costs will remain stable. Contractual clauses which vary from standard commercial practice are suspect. A measure can be selective even when it uses objective criteria to define eligible beneficiaries. Trade can be affected and competition […]

Fiscal Leveraging: Donations and State Aid for Culture and Sports

Introduction In this blog I examine primarily a Dutch measure that supports cultural institutions by providing tax incentives to individuals and corporations to make donations to those institutions. This is an unusual construction because the direct beneficiaries are different from the indirect beneficiaries which, however, are the main targets of the measure. This construction has been used rather extensively in […]

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