A public authority acting as private creditor must exhaust all legally available means of recovering money owed to it. A private creditor may agree to an amicable arrangement – depending on the complexity and duration of legal proceedings, the value of the collateral it holds and the chances of long-term viability of the debtor – if it results in repayment of […]
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.
- Article 107(1) ×
14. April 2014 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
28. March 2014 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
The existence of an advantage cannot be excluded when the operator of an infrastructural facility is chosen through a competitive procedure which combines price with other selection criteria. The users of a subsidised infrastructural facility who pay a market fee may still derive an advantage when the facility is designed and/or reserved for certain usage. Introduction Ever since the Leipzig-Halle […]
6. December 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction What prevents a Member State from granting State aid without first notifying it to the European Commission? Cynics would answer “nothing, in fact”. Indeed, nothing can stop a country that is determined to provide a subsidy. But after the judgment in case Lufthansa v Frankfurt Hahn Airport, the answer must be “unnecessary hassle”. Even if there is a slight […]
22. November 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Normally the articles in this blog identify landmark court rulings and seminal decisions of the Commission which set important precedents and provide useful guidance to State aid professionals and practitioners. This article deviates from this custom. It examines a recent case where the Commission concluded that public subsidies did not constitute State aid because intra-EU trade was not affected. […]
4. October 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Normally it is conceptually and technically fairly easy to determine whether an undertaking benefits from a public measure. However, this task becomes considerably more difficult in two situations: i) when a public authority claims that it acts like a private investor and ii) when a public measure is intended to compensate for a disadvantage suffered by the beneficiary undertaking […]
26. September 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction In the landmark judgment in Leipzig Halle, the General Court stated that infrastructure which is inseparable from economic activity is itself economic and its public funding can fall in principle within the scope of Article 107(1) TFEU. The Court of Justice has confirmed this principle. On 12 September 2013, the General Court in its judgment in case T-347/09, Germany […]
23. August 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
On 18 July 2013, in case C-6/12, the Court of Justice of the European Union rendered a judgment on an interesting aspect of the concept of selectivity.[1] The judgment concerned a request for preliminary ruling in a dispute between “P Oy”, a Finnish company, and Finnish tax authorities. The tax authorities refused to allow P Oy to deduct losses incurred in […]
15. August 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Several postings in this blog have examined cases concerning funding of port, airport or sport infrastructure. These cases have all had interesting peculiarities. Some involved no state aid because public authorities acted as private investors, while in other cases the funding arrangements were designed in such a way so that the state aid to operators would not spill over […]
14. July 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
This is a rather long posting divided into two parts both of which deal with the concept of economic activity. In part I, I analyse two cases outside the field of state aid that dealt with the concepts of undertaking and economic activity. Both of them originated in legal proceedings initiated before Austrian courts. In part II (that will come […]
5. July 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Normally, economic analysis is used by the Commission to find out whether a measure confers an abnormal advantage to an undertaking. This would be the case, for example, when a public authority makes an investment that generates a return that falls below what the market would demand. The recipient undertaking derives an abnormal advantage [i.e. an advantage that would […]
- Article 107(1) ×
14. April 2014 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
A public authority acting as private creditor must exhaust all legally available means of recovering money owed to it. A private creditor may agree to an amicable arrangement – depending on the complexity and duration of legal proceedings, the value of the collateral it holds and the chances of long-term viability of the debtor – if it results in repayment of […]
28. March 2014 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
The existence of an advantage cannot be excluded when the operator of an infrastructural facility is chosen through a competitive procedure which combines price with other selection criteria. The users of a subsidised infrastructural facility who pay a market fee may still derive an advantage when the facility is designed and/or reserved for certain usage. Introduction Ever since the Leipzig-Halle […]
6. December 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction What prevents a Member State from granting State aid without first notifying it to the European Commission? Cynics would answer “nothing, in fact”. Indeed, nothing can stop a country that is determined to provide a subsidy. But after the judgment in case Lufthansa v Frankfurt Hahn Airport, the answer must be “unnecessary hassle”. Even if there is a slight […]
22. November 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Normally the articles in this blog identify landmark court rulings and seminal decisions of the Commission which set important precedents and provide useful guidance to State aid professionals and practitioners. This article deviates from this custom. It examines a recent case where the Commission concluded that public subsidies did not constitute State aid because intra-EU trade was not affected. […]
4. October 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Normally it is conceptually and technically fairly easy to determine whether an undertaking benefits from a public measure. However, this task becomes considerably more difficult in two situations: i) when a public authority claims that it acts like a private investor and ii) when a public measure is intended to compensate for a disadvantage suffered by the beneficiary undertaking […]
26. September 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction In the landmark judgment in Leipzig Halle, the General Court stated that infrastructure which is inseparable from economic activity is itself economic and its public funding can fall in principle within the scope of Article 107(1) TFEU. The Court of Justice has confirmed this principle. On 12 September 2013, the General Court in its judgment in case T-347/09, Germany […]
23. August 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
On 18 July 2013, in case C-6/12, the Court of Justice of the European Union rendered a judgment on an interesting aspect of the concept of selectivity.[1] The judgment concerned a request for preliminary ruling in a dispute between “P Oy”, a Finnish company, and Finnish tax authorities. The tax authorities refused to allow P Oy to deduct losses incurred in […]
15. August 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Several postings in this blog have examined cases concerning funding of port, airport or sport infrastructure. These cases have all had interesting peculiarities. Some involved no state aid because public authorities acted as private investors, while in other cases the funding arrangements were designed in such a way so that the state aid to operators would not spill over […]
14. July 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
This is a rather long posting divided into two parts both of which deal with the concept of economic activity. In part I, I analyse two cases outside the field of state aid that dealt with the concepts of undertaking and economic activity. Both of them originated in legal proceedings initiated before Austrian courts. In part II (that will come […]
5. July 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Normally, economic analysis is used by the Commission to find out whether a measure confers an abnormal advantage to an undertaking. This would be the case, for example, when a public authority makes an investment that generates a return that falls below what the market would demand. The recipient undertaking derives an abnormal advantage [i.e. an advantage that would […]
- Article 107(1) ×
14. April 2014 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
A public authority acting as private creditor must exhaust all legally available means of recovering money owed to it. A private creditor may agree to an amicable arrangement – depending on the complexity and duration of legal proceedings, the value of the collateral it holds and the chances of long-term viability of the debtor – if it results in repayment of […]
28. March 2014 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
The existence of an advantage cannot be excluded when the operator of an infrastructural facility is chosen through a competitive procedure which combines price with other selection criteria. The users of a subsidised infrastructural facility who pay a market fee may still derive an advantage when the facility is designed and/or reserved for certain usage. Introduction Ever since the Leipzig-Halle […]
6. December 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction What prevents a Member State from granting State aid without first notifying it to the European Commission? Cynics would answer “nothing, in fact”. Indeed, nothing can stop a country that is determined to provide a subsidy. But after the judgment in case Lufthansa v Frankfurt Hahn Airport, the answer must be “unnecessary hassle”. Even if there is a slight […]
22. November 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Normally the articles in this blog identify landmark court rulings and seminal decisions of the Commission which set important precedents and provide useful guidance to State aid professionals and practitioners. This article deviates from this custom. It examines a recent case where the Commission concluded that public subsidies did not constitute State aid because intra-EU trade was not affected. […]
4. October 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Normally it is conceptually and technically fairly easy to determine whether an undertaking benefits from a public measure. However, this task becomes considerably more difficult in two situations: i) when a public authority claims that it acts like a private investor and ii) when a public measure is intended to compensate for a disadvantage suffered by the beneficiary undertaking […]
26. September 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction In the landmark judgment in Leipzig Halle, the General Court stated that infrastructure which is inseparable from economic activity is itself economic and its public funding can fall in principle within the scope of Article 107(1) TFEU. The Court of Justice has confirmed this principle. On 12 September 2013, the General Court in its judgment in case T-347/09, Germany […]
23. August 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
On 18 July 2013, in case C-6/12, the Court of Justice of the European Union rendered a judgment on an interesting aspect of the concept of selectivity.[1] The judgment concerned a request for preliminary ruling in a dispute between “P Oy”, a Finnish company, and Finnish tax authorities. The tax authorities refused to allow P Oy to deduct losses incurred in […]
15. August 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Several postings in this blog have examined cases concerning funding of port, airport or sport infrastructure. These cases have all had interesting peculiarities. Some involved no state aid because public authorities acted as private investors, while in other cases the funding arrangements were designed in such a way so that the state aid to operators would not spill over […]
14. July 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
This is a rather long posting divided into two parts both of which deal with the concept of economic activity. In part I, I analyse two cases outside the field of state aid that dealt with the concepts of undertaking and economic activity. Both of them originated in legal proceedings initiated before Austrian courts. In part II (that will come […]
5. July 2013 |
State Aid Uncovered
by Phedon Nicolaides
Introduction Normally, economic analysis is used by the Commission to find out whether a measure confers an abnormal advantage to an undertaking. This would be the case, for example, when a public authority makes an investment that generates a return that falls below what the market would demand. The recipient undertaking derives an abnormal advantage [i.e. an advantage that would […]