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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1. April 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Subsidies to Incentivise Closure of Excess Capacity Are State Aid
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Introduction Very often Member States claim that subsidies they grant as compensation for the costs incurred by the recipient undertakings do not confer an advantage to them and therefore do not constitute State aid. The Court of Justice of the EU [CJEU] has on the whole rejected this claim even if the subsidy is less than the costs which are […]
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25. March 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Measures to Support Electricity Prices Must Conform with the Principles of Non-discrimination and Proportionality
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Introduction On 12 March 2025, the General Court delivered its judgment in case T-596/22, PGI Spain, & Others v Commission.[1] PGI and the other applicants sought the annulment of Commission decision on SA.102454 and SA.102569 concerning a joint Spanish and Portuguese measure on the reduction of the electricity wholesale price in the Iberian peninsula. In May 2022, Spain and Portugal […]
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18. March 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Compensation for the Net Cost of Providing Postal Services
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Introduction Significant changes have occurred in the postal sector across Europe. Partly as a result of the covid-19 pandemic and partly due to technological evolution, letter deliveries have declined precipitously while parcel deliveries have increased substantially. At the same time digital mail has become ubiquitous. For example, in early March 2025, NordPost, the postal incumbent in Denmark and Sweden announced […]
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11. March 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Lease of Public Land
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Introduction Public land is a public asset that must be priced correctly when rented out to third parties. The problem is that in most cases rented out plots of public land are either too large or are in unusual places. In either case, comparable commercial transactions are difficult to find, especially if transactions in such plots are infrequent. In these […]
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4. March 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Tax Exemptions for Public Casinos
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Introduction The Commission, in decision 2025/317, spanning 60 pages with close to 300 recitals and concerning the special tax treatment of public casino operators in Germany, found that that treatment constituted unlawful and incompatible State aid that had to be recovered.[1] Following a complaint by the German association of gambling machine operators [Fachverband Spielhallen], the Commission examined i) special tax […]
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25. February 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

The Granting of Rescue Aid to a Member of a Company Group
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Introduction State aid to rescue a company and finance its restructuring is considered to be the most distortionary form of aid. However, it is allowed only to prevent serious social harm and only after notification to and assessment by the Commission. The compatibility assessment is always exhaustive and seeks to establish, among other things, whether State aid is the only […]
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18. February 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Individual Aid to Support Reduction of CO2 Emissions
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Introduction State aid rules are, in general, less favourable to large companies mostly because they have more own funds, access to cheaper finance [mostly due to longer track record and higher credit ratings] and are more mobile so that regional handicaps have a lesser effect on them. Size also brings other advantages such as the ability to hire top economic […]
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11. February 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

What Competitors Must Show in order to Be Able to Challenge a Commission Decision on State Aid
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Introduction A perennial question is whether competitors of aid recipients have legal standing to appeal against Commission decisions that either authorise aid or find that a public measure does not constitute State aid. The answer depends on whether the Commission decision is adopted without the opening of the formal investigation procedure or after a form investigation. It is easier to […]
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3. February 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

The Court of Justice Misses an Opportunity to Provide Guidance on how to Detect Possible Infringement of other Provisions of EU Law by State Aid Measures
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Introduction On 23 January 2025, the Court of Justice delivered its judgment in case C‑490/23 P, Neos v Ryanair.[1] Neos, a private airline licensed in Italy, appealed against the judgment of the General Court in case T-268/21, Ryanair v Commission, by which it annulled Commission decision SA.59029 concerning an Italian compensation scheme for airlines with an Italian operating licence.[2] The […]
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3. February 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Offshore Wind Installations
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Introduction State aid to support the generation of electricity from renewable sources must, as standard practice, be granted on the basis of a competitive selection process whereby the most efficient operator gets aid first. With a binding budget, the least efficient operators are excluded. However, there is an exception to this rule for small installations and in situations where there […]
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18. February 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Individual Aid to Support Reduction of CO2 Emissions
State Aid Blogs - State Aid Uncovered photos 34
Introduction State aid rules are, in general, less favourable to large companies mostly because they have more own funds, access to cheaper finance [mostly due to longer track record and higher credit ratings] and are more mobile so that regional handicaps have a lesser effect on them. Size also brings other advantages such as the ability to hire top economic […]
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11. February 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

What Competitors Must Show in order to Be Able to Challenge a Commission Decision on State Aid
State Aid Blogs - State Aid Uncovered photos 33
Introduction A perennial question is whether competitors of aid recipients have legal standing to appeal against Commission decisions that either authorise aid or find that a public measure does not constitute State aid. The answer depends on whether the Commission decision is adopted without the opening of the formal investigation procedure or after a form investigation. It is easier to […]
read more
No Comments
3. February 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

The Court of Justice Misses an Opportunity to Provide Guidance on how to Detect Possible Infringement of other Provisions of EU Law by State Aid Measures
State Aid Blogs - State Aid Uncovered photos 32
Introduction On 23 January 2025, the Court of Justice delivered its judgment in case C‑490/23 P, Neos v Ryanair.[1] Neos, a private airline licensed in Italy, appealed against the judgment of the General Court in case T-268/21, Ryanair v Commission, by which it annulled Commission decision SA.59029 concerning an Italian compensation scheme for airlines with an Italian operating licence.[2] The […]
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3. February 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Offshore Wind Installations
State Aid Blogs - State Aid Uncovered photos 30
Introduction State aid to support the generation of electricity from renewable sources must, as standard practice, be granted on the basis of a competitive selection process whereby the most efficient operator gets aid first. With a binding budget, the least efficient operators are excluded. However, there is an exception to this rule for small installations and in situations where there […]
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21. January 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Incompatible State Aid May Be Recovered from an Undertaking other than the Direct Recipient
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Introduction The first judgment of 2025 on State aid was rendered by the Cour of Justice of the EU [CJEU] in case C-588/23, Scai, on 16 January 2025. It was a response to a request for a preliminary ruling by an Italian court.[1] Scai had initiated legal proceedings before a national court to contest a request by Regione Campania for […]
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14. January 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Accelerated Rollout of Renewable Energy
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Introduction The Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework for State aid expired on 31 December 2024. However, certain provisions remain in force until 31 December 2025. Those provisions are the following: Section 2.5.1: Investment aid for accelerating the rollout of renewable energy and for energy storage. Section 2.5.2: Operating aid for accelerating the rollout of renewable energy and for energy storage. […]
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9. January 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

The Problem of Compensatory State Aid
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Introduction During the covid-19 pandemic there were fewer bankruptcies than normal. The consensus opinion is that the vast amounts of liquidity that were pumped into EU economies saved not only healthy companies but also many of those that would have otherwise gone out of business. Although the large-scale support schemes were necessary, they also created a problem: how to separate […]
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17. December 2024  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Does the State not Control the Resources whose Use Is Defined by Law?
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Introduction Germany has been very creative in devising measures of support of renewable sources of energy that do not constitute State aid [see the landmark judgments in PreussenElektra, EEG2012, etc]. The decisive element in those measures was the absence of state resources. In January of this year, Germany succeeded to persuade the General Court that a new measure was also […]
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10. December 2024  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Cross-border Cumulation of State Aid
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Introduction Compliance with the rules on the cumulation of State aid can be tricky for several reasons. First, all aid granted by all public authorities for the same project needs to be taken into account. Second, this requires identification of the relevant eligible costs, as the same undertaking may legally receive multiple awards of aid for different projects whose eligible […]
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7. January 2025  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Public Funding of Healthcare Services Based on the Principle of Social Solidarity Is not State Aid
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Introduction In June 2016, the Commission received a complaint from the Medical Chamber of Slovenia – a professional organisation of private medical doctors and dentists practicing in Slovenia – concerning alleged State aid granted by Slovenia to public hospitals and public healthcare centres. With decision SA.45844, the Commission recently decided that the public funding of public hospitals and healthcare centres […]
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3. December 2015  |   Guest State Aid Blog by Emanuela Matei

The Interpretation of Conflicting Norms regarding the Validity of State Aid Infolding Contracts Must Be Consistent with the Safeguard of Individual Rights Created by EU State Aid Law (C 505/14, Klausner)
forest
The following blog post is another 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 […]
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11. November 2015  |   Guest State Aid Blog by Dimitrios Kyriazis

Summary of Lexxion Seminar: State aid for Tax Measures on 26-27 October 2015, Brussels
Lexxion Seminar
The following is a summary of the main points that were presented and the issues that were discussed in the seminar on State aid in Tax Measures that was held in Brussels on 26-27 October 2015. The summary has been prepared for information purposes only and it is not meant to be a precise record of the proceedings of the […]
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5. November 2015  |   Guest State Aid Blog by Lexxion Publisher

Court’s Diary – November 2015
gavel
Find below the court’s diary for all State aid cases. Would you like to write a comment on one of them? Please don’t hesitate and get in touch with us ([email protected]), we are happy to publish your comment on the blog.   Wednesday 11/11/2015 Judgment in Case C-505/14 – Klausner Holz Niedersachsen (Court of Justice – Second Chamber) Thursday 12/11/2015 Judgment in […]
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22. October 2015  |   Guest State Aid Blog by Emanuela Matei

A new misnomer in State aid law: single economic unit with separate legal personality (C 357/14 P, Dunamenti Erőmű/Commission)
electricity grid cables
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 […]
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12. October 2015  |   Guest State Aid Blog by Lexxion Publisher

Courts’s Diary – October 2015
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Any comments on #Stateaid? Get in touch: Stateaidhub[at]lexxion.eu   Thursday 01/10/2015 Judgment in Case C-357/14 P – Electrabel and Dunamenti Erőmű v Commission (Court of Justice – Third Chamber)   Tuesday 06/10/2015 Judgment in Case C-303/13 P – Andersen v Commission (Court of Justice – Grand Chamber)   Thursday 08/10/2015 Hearing in Joined Cases T-479/11 & T-157/12 – France v Commission, […]
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24. September 2015  |   Guest State Aid Blog by Gian Marco Galletti

How Reasonable The Private Investor May Be Assumed To Be? Corsica Ferries France
steel construction
The following article summary is a contributory piece by Gian Marco Galletti. The full piece was published in the Common Market Law Review. Galletti is working as a researcher at the Dickson Poon School of Law since 2013. He is currently working on a PhD in European law under the supervision of Prof. Andrea Biondi. He holds an LLB with […]
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1. September 2015  |   Guest State Aid Blog by Lexxion Publisher

Court’s Diary – September 2015
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Any comments on #Stateaid? Get in touch: Stateaidhub[at]lexxion.eu   Thursday 03/09/2015   Judgment in Case C-89/14 – A2A (Court of Justice – Fifth Chamber)Tuesday 08/09/2015 Hearing in Case T-103/14 – Frucona Košice v Commission (General Court – Second Chamber)Thursday 17/09/2015 Judgment in Case C-33/14 P – Mory and Others v Commission (Court of Justice – Third Chamber)   Friday 18/09/2015 Judgment […]
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2. July 2015  |   Guest State Aid Blog by Lexxion Publisher

Court’s Diary – July 2015
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Any comments on #Stateaid? Get in touch: Stateaidhub[at]lexxion.de Wednesday 01/07/2015 Opinion in Case C-357/14 P Dunamenti Erőmű v Commission (Court of Justice – Third Chamber)   Thursday 02/07/2015 Judgment in Joined cases T-425/04 RENV France v Commission, T-444/04 RENV Orange v Commission (General Court – Sixth Chamber, Extended Composition)   Wednesday 08/07/2015 Hearing in Case T-287/11 Heitkamp BauHolding v Commission (General Court – Ninth […]
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17. June 2015  |   Guest State Aid Blog by Lexxion Publisher

EStAL Best Reviewer Award 2014/2015
Last week our 13th Experts’ Forum on New Developments in European State Aid Law took place. From 10th to 12th June 2015 a group of enthusiastic professionals interested in State Aid gathered at the Club of the University Foundation in Brussels to discuss the most recent issues on the topic. In the realm of this conference, we were proud to announce our […]
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3. June 2015  |   Guest State Aid Blog by Lexxion Publisher

Court’s Diary – June 2015
gavel
Any comments on #Stateaid? Get in touch: Stateaidhub[at]lexxion.eu Thursday 04/06/2015 Judgment in Case C-15/14 P Commission v MOL (Court of Justice – First Chamber)   Tuesday 09/06/2015 Hearing in Case T-515/13 Spain v Commission (General Court – Seventh Chamber)   Wednesday 10/06/2015 Hearing in Case C-367/14 Commission v Italy (Court of Justice – Third Chamber) Hearing in Case T-719/13 Lico Leasing and Pequeños y […]
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