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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- SMEs ×

I. Vouchers for SMEs II. Funding of Aid with Revenue from Levies Imposed on the Aid Beneficiaries

State aid rules apply both to direct and indirect beneficiaries of aid. Introduction This week’s article reviews a Commission decision and a judgment of the Court of Justice. The Commission decision concerns Italian vouchers for SMEs to pay for the use of fast broadband services. The judgment deals with a German measure supporting milk quality tests. In both cases an […]

Pricing of Guarantees

A market guarantee premium must cover all costs assumed by the guarantor including the cost of possible default, cost of capital and the cost of administering the guarantee. Introduction Financial instruments are much in vogue. The Pan-European Guarantee Fund and to a smaller extent the Recovery and Resilience Fund are implemented through financial instruments that seek to leverage private participation. […]

Risk Finance

Risk finance measures for the support for large enterprises or SMEs which operate for longer than seven years fall outside the GBER and must be notified individually to the Commission. Introduction Since the State aid modernisation and the new rules that were introduced in 2014, only a handful of risk finance measures [7-8?] have been notified to the European Commission […]

PART I: Ex Ante Assessment and Ex Post Evaluation of Risk Finance Measures

A well-designed State aid measure is preceded by a rigorous ex ante study that identifies market failure. The objectives of a well-designed measure address directly the nature and magnitude of the identified market failure.   Introduction The European Commission has approved, with decision SA.40991, amendments to two existing aid measures: Enterprise Investment Scheme [EIS] and Venture Capital Trust [VCT] in […]

- SMEs ×

I. Vouchers for SMEs II. Funding of Aid with Revenue from Levies Imposed on the Aid Beneficiaries

State aid rules apply both to direct and indirect beneficiaries of aid. Introduction This week’s article reviews a Commission decision and a judgment of the Court of Justice. The Commission decision concerns Italian vouchers for SMEs to pay for the use of fast broadband services. The judgment deals with a German measure supporting milk quality tests. In both cases an […]

Pricing of Guarantees

A market guarantee premium must cover all costs assumed by the guarantor including the cost of possible default, cost of capital and the cost of administering the guarantee. Introduction Financial instruments are much in vogue. The Pan-European Guarantee Fund and to a smaller extent the Recovery and Resilience Fund are implemented through financial instruments that seek to leverage private participation. […]

Risk Finance

Risk finance measures for the support for large enterprises or SMEs which operate for longer than seven years fall outside the GBER and must be notified individually to the Commission. Introduction Since the State aid modernisation and the new rules that were introduced in 2014, only a handful of risk finance measures [7-8?] have been notified to the European Commission […]

PART I: Ex Ante Assessment and Ex Post Evaluation of Risk Finance Measures

A well-designed State aid measure is preceded by a rigorous ex ante study that identifies market failure. The objectives of a well-designed measure address directly the nature and magnitude of the identified market failure.   Introduction The European Commission has approved, with decision SA.40991, amendments to two existing aid measures: Enterprise Investment Scheme [EIS] and Venture Capital Trust [VCT] in […]

- SMEs ×

I. Vouchers for SMEs II. Funding of Aid with Revenue from Levies Imposed on the Aid Beneficiaries

State aid rules apply both to direct and indirect beneficiaries of aid. Introduction This week’s article reviews a Commission decision and a judgment of the Court of Justice. The Commission decision concerns Italian vouchers for SMEs to pay for the use of fast broadband services. The judgment deals with a German measure supporting milk quality tests. In both cases an […]

Pricing of Guarantees

A market guarantee premium must cover all costs assumed by the guarantor including the cost of possible default, cost of capital and the cost of administering the guarantee. Introduction Financial instruments are much in vogue. The Pan-European Guarantee Fund and to a smaller extent the Recovery and Resilience Fund are implemented through financial instruments that seek to leverage private participation. […]

Risk Finance

Risk finance measures for the support for large enterprises or SMEs which operate for longer than seven years fall outside the GBER and must be notified individually to the Commission. Introduction Since the State aid modernisation and the new rules that were introduced in 2014, only a handful of risk finance measures [7-8?] have been notified to the European Commission […]

PART I: Ex Ante Assessment and Ex Post Evaluation of Risk Finance Measures

A well-designed State aid measure is preceded by a rigorous ex ante study that identifies market failure. The objectives of a well-designed measure address directly the nature and magnitude of the identified market failure.   Introduction The European Commission has approved, with decision SA.40991, amendments to two existing aid measures: Enterprise Investment Scheme [EIS] and Venture Capital Trust [VCT] in […]

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