Europäisches Beihilfenrecht Blog

State Aid Uncovered Blog

In Lexxions Blog „State Aid Uncovered” veröffentlicht Prof. Phedon Nicolaides wöchentlich kritische Analysen zu den neuesten Urteilen und Entscheidungen zu staatlichen Beihilfen. Jeder Beitrag stellt die wichtigsten Punkte eines Gerichtsurteils oder einer EU-Kommissionsentscheidung vor, ordnet sie in den Kontext ähnlicher Rechtsprechung oder Praxis ein, bewertet die zugrundeliegende Argumentation und zeigt etwaige Ungereimtheiten oder Widersprüche auf.

In loser Folge werden auf diesem Blog auch Gastbeiträge von anderen Experten für staatliche Beihilfen veröffentlicht, welche die Inhalte der Blogbeiträge ergänzen.

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Professor at Maastricht University; Professor at University of Nicosia, and Academic Director at Lexxion Training

The Cumulation of State Aid Granted by Different Member States — The Landwärme Case

Guest State Aid Blog by Professor Leigh Hancher, Nicole Robins and Dr Philipp Schliffke[1] 1 Introduction The Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001 (‘RED II’) states that ‘the promotion of the production and use of biomethane, its injection into a natural gas grid and cross-border trade create a need to ensure proper accounting of renewable energy as well as avoiding double incentives […]

Although Member States Are Free to Determine their Tax Systems, they Must still Conform with State Aid Rules

Introduction On 10 September 2024, the Court of Justice [CJEU] delivered its much anticipated judgment, in case C-465/20 P, Commission v Ireland & Apple. It ruled that Ireland had granted incompatible State aid to Apple through preferential tax rulings.[1] The judgment was the result of an appeal by the Commission against the judgment of the General Court in case T-778/16, Ireland […]

Compensation for Switching to a New Broadcasting Frequency

Introduction Normally the cost of compliance with mandatory regulations may not be offset, partially or fully, by State aid because it lacks incentive effect. The beneficiaries would have to incur those costs anyway. However, even in the case of mandatory compliance, State aid may still have an incentive effect if the undertakings concerned would cease altogether the activity in question. […]

A State-Owned Company Acts as a Private Investor – Part II

Part II: Advantage The Commission, first, explained that the “(80) intervention must be considered as a whole, considering the purpose and timing of the various stages in which AMCO’s intervention is to be made, within the context and contents of the second arrangement proposal. Whether or not a transaction is in line with market conditions must be established through a […]

A State-Owned Company Acts as a Private Investor

Introduction When a party to a financial transaction is a company that is owned and controlled by the state, it is difficult to determine whether the transaction is free of State aid. This is because it is not easy to prove that the state had no influence over the decision of the company to carry out that transaction. The Commission […]

Incentive Effect of State Aid to a Large Investment Project

Introduction The Commission pays particular attention to the incentive effect of aid to large projects that are undertaken by international companies which, by definition, are mobile and can choose from many different locations where to establish their operations. Not only must the aid recipient prove, on the basis of credible evidence, that without the aid the investment would not be […]

A Large Investment Project that is Partly Funded Directly by the EU

Introduction In July 2024, the Commission published its decision on State aid measure SA.104269 concerning a large investment project [LIP] undertaken by 3Sun in Italy. 3Sun is a subsidiary of Enel, the Italian energy company that is also one of the largest energy companies in Europe. The project would take place in Catania, a city in the NUTS 2 region […]

The Existence of State Aid Must Be Proven on the Basis of Credible Evidence

Introduction This article reviews two cases in which courts found that it had not been proven that all of the criteria of Article 107(1) TFEU had been satisfied. Case I: Not being able to prove that the measure is attributed to a decision of the state With decision 2024/2033, published in OJ L, 29 July 2024, the Commission corrected its […]

State Aid Measures May not Infringe EU Law outside the Field of State Aid

Introduction In December 2020, the Commission approved State aid scheme SA.59029 by which Italy compensated airlines for damage they had suffered as a result of covid-19-related restrictions, in the period from 1 March to 15 June 2020. Eligible airlines were only those that were licensed in Italy. The aid was approved on the basis of Article 107(2)(b) TFEU. In May […]

Electricity Produced from High-Efficiency Combined Heat & Power Plants

News: The Commission has approved a draft block exemption regulation declaring certain categories of aid in the rail, inland waterways and multimodal transport sector compatible with the internal market on the basis of Article 93. The draft regulation can be accessed at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C_202404539 Introduction The EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive [EED] [Directive 2012/27, as last amended in 2023 by Directive 2023/1791] […]

Compensation for Switching to a New Broadcasting Frequency

Introduction Normally the cost of compliance with mandatory regulations may not be offset, partially or fully, by State aid because it lacks incentive effect. The beneficiaries would have to incur those costs anyway. However, even in the case of mandatory compliance, State aid may still have an incentive effect if the undertakings concerned would cease altogether the activity in question. […]

A State-Owned Company Acts as a Private Investor – Part II

Part II: Advantage The Commission, first, explained that the “(80) intervention must be considered as a whole, considering the purpose and timing of the various stages in which AMCO’s intervention is to be made, within the context and contents of the second arrangement proposal. Whether or not a transaction is in line with market conditions must be established through a […]

A State-Owned Company Acts as a Private Investor

Introduction When a party to a financial transaction is a company that is owned and controlled by the state, it is difficult to determine whether the transaction is free of State aid. This is because it is not easy to prove that the state had no influence over the decision of the company to carry out that transaction. The Commission […]

Incentive Effect of State Aid to a Large Investment Project

Introduction The Commission pays particular attention to the incentive effect of aid to large projects that are undertaken by international companies which, by definition, are mobile and can choose from many different locations where to establish their operations. Not only must the aid recipient prove, on the basis of credible evidence, that without the aid the investment would not be […]

A Large Investment Project that is Partly Funded Directly by the EU

Introduction In July 2024, the Commission published its decision on State aid measure SA.104269 concerning a large investment project [LIP] undertaken by 3Sun in Italy. 3Sun is a subsidiary of Enel, the Italian energy company that is also one of the largest energy companies in Europe. The project would take place in Catania, a city in the NUTS 2 region […]

The Existence of State Aid Must Be Proven on the Basis of Credible Evidence

Introduction This article reviews two cases in which courts found that it had not been proven that all of the criteria of Article 107(1) TFEU had been satisfied. Case I: Not being able to prove that the measure is attributed to a decision of the state With decision 2024/2033, published in OJ L, 29 July 2024, the Commission corrected its […]

State Aid Measures May not Infringe EU Law outside the Field of State Aid

Introduction In December 2020, the Commission approved State aid scheme SA.59029 by which Italy compensated airlines for damage they had suffered as a result of covid-19-related restrictions, in the period from 1 March to 15 June 2020. Eligible airlines were only those that were licensed in Italy. The aid was approved on the basis of Article 107(2)(b) TFEU. In May […]

Electricity Produced from High-Efficiency Combined Heat & Power Plants

News: The Commission has approved a draft block exemption regulation declaring certain categories of aid in the rail, inland waterways and multimodal transport sector compatible with the internal market on the basis of Article 93. The draft regulation can be accessed at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C_202404539 Introduction The EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive [EED] [Directive 2012/27, as last amended in 2023 by Directive 2023/1791] […]

Compliance with EU State Aid Rules

On 8 July 2024, the European Court of Auditors published its Overview of the Assurance Framework and the Key Factors Contributing to Errors in 2014-2020 Cohesion Spending, (Review 3, 2024) The main findings of the ECA concerning compliance with State aid rules can be summarised in the following two tables. 1) Most frequent errors [2018-22] (% of all errors) and […]

Repayment of Incompatible State Aid Is Inescapable

Introduction Companies may pay taxes in several Member States of the EU or in third countries. This fact by itself has no bearing in an assessment of whether preferential tax treatment in a Member State may constitute State aid. However, it becomes relevant when incompatible aid is to be recovered and the granting Member State has to determine the amount […]

Summary of Lexxion Seminar: State aid for Tax Measures on 26-27 October 2015, Brussels

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 […]

Court’s Diary – November 2015

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 […]

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 […]

Courts’s Diary – October 2015

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, […]

How Reasonable The Private Investor May Be Assumed To Be? Corsica Ferries France

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 […]

Court’s Diary – September 2015

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 […]

Court’s Diary – July 2015

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 […]

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 […]

Court’s Diary – June 2015

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 […]

Court’s Diary – May 2015

Interested in #Stateaid? Get in touch and write a blog post or a comment for the hub! Stateaidhub[at]lexxion.eu Wednesday 06/05/2015 Judgement in Case C-674/13 Commission v Germany (Court of Justice – Second Chamber) Hearing, Joined Cases T-50/06 RENV II, T-69/06 RENVII Ireland v Commission, Aughinish Alumina v Commission (General Court – First Chamber, Extended Composition)   Wednesday 13/05/2015 Judgement in Case […]

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