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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19. September 2023  |   by Phedon Nicolaides

When Are Decisions of State-owned Companies Imputed to the State?
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Introduction According to Article 4 of Regulation 2015/1589 [the Procedural Regulation], when the Commission, after a preliminary examination of a State aid measure, has doubts as to the absence of State aid or the compatibility of the aid with the internal market, it must open the formal examination procedure. The case law says that doubts arise when the Commission encounters […]
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12. September 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Decarbonisation
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Introduction The Netherlands intends to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses [GHG] by 55% by the year 2050. For this reason, in June 2023 it notified to the Commission a new version of a scheme, called the “Stimulering Duurzame Energieproductie en Klimaattransitie” [SDE++] which loosely translated means incentivising sustainable production of energy and climate transition. Its purpose is to fund […]
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5. September 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Transition to a Net-Zero Economy
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Introduction Although the TCTF requires notification of aid measures, it seems to be more user-friendly than State aid guidelines. This is because Member States may simply copy its provisions in their local law or administrative instrument and sent it to the Commission. A case in point is a German scheme that is reviewed in this article. It was notified to […]
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29. August 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Electricity Storage
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Introduction As indicated by its title, the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework [TCTF] allows for State aid whose purpose goes beyond the immediate relief of the costs of the market disruption caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Europe’s energy policy does not only aim to reduce dependence on Russian gas, but also to shift to low or zero carbon […]
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22. August 2023  |   by Phedon Nicolaides

A Large Investment Project (Part II)
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Introduction According to the latest edition of the State aid Scoreboard, in 2021, Member States granted EUR 14 billion of aid to support regional development. That amount corresponded to about 10% of the total non-crisis aid. What is perhaps more interesting is that close to EUR 12.5 billion or 90% of the total regional aid was granted on the basis […]
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14. August 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

A Large Investment Project (Part I)
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Introduction According to the latest edition of the State aid Scoreboard, in 2021, Member States granted EUR 14 billion of aid to support regional development. That amount corresponded to about 10% of the total non-crisis aid. What is perhaps more interesting is that close to EUR 12.5 billion or 90% of the total regional aid was granted on the basis […]
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7. August 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Decarbonisation of Steel Production
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Introduction Many, perhaps the majority, of notifications on the basis of the Guidelines on Climate, Environmental Protection and Energy [CEEAG] concern decarbonisation of production processes. In this context, large amounts of State aid have been funnelled to the decarbonisation of steel production. ArcelorMittal has been a major beneficiary. In February 2023, Spain granted EUR 460 million to support ArcelorMittal to […]
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1. August 2023  |   by Phedon Nicolaides

Profitability as a Criterion of the Compatibility of State Aid with the Internal Market
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Introduction When the state has a realistic prospect of making profit, its financial transactions with third parties do not constitute State aid. The absence of profit is a strong indicator of the presence of State aid but not necessarily its compatibility with the internal market. For State aid to be compatible with the internal market it must, among other things, […]
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25. July 2023  |   by Phedon Nicolaides

I) State Aid Guidelines & II) Repayment of State Aid
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Introduction This article reviews two judgments of the Court of Justice: On the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Guidelines and on a structural funds regulation. No Member State has ever succeeded in challenging the Commission’s State aid guidelines. In the first judgment, a group of undertakings tried to dispute the legality of a set of guidelines. Not surprisingly, they failed. The second […]
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18. July 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

The Non-economic Nature of a Public Health System and Regional Development
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Introduction This article reviews two judgments: On a public health system and on regional development through capital injections. I. Public health system On 27 April 2023, the Court of Justice rendered its judgment in case C-492/21 P, Casa Regina Apostolorum della Pia Società delle Figlie di San Paolo v European Commission.[1] Casa Regina Apostolorum della Pia Società delle Figlie di […]
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7. August 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Decarbonisation of Steel Production
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Introduction Many, perhaps the majority, of notifications on the basis of the Guidelines on Climate, Environmental Protection and Energy [CEEAG] concern decarbonisation of production processes. In this context, large amounts of State aid have been funnelled to the decarbonisation of steel production. ArcelorMittal has been a major beneficiary. In February 2023, Spain granted EUR 460 million to support ArcelorMittal to […]
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18. July 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

The Non-economic Nature of a Public Health System and Regional Development
State Aid Blogs - State Aid Uncovered SM posts 44
Introduction This article reviews two judgments: On a public health system and on regional development through capital injections. I. Public health system On 27 April 2023, the Court of Justice rendered its judgment in case C-492/21 P, Casa Regina Apostolorum della Pia Società delle Figlie di San Paolo v European Commission.[1] Casa Regina Apostolorum della Pia Società delle Figlie di […]
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10. July 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Regional Operating Aid
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Introduction On 21 June 2023, the General Court delivered its judgment in case T-131/21, Região Autónoma da Madeira v European Commission.[1] It rejected the action of the Autonomous Region of Madeira [ARM] by which it sought the annulment of Commission decision 2022/1414 on aid scheme implemented by Portugal for the Madeira Free Zone or Zona Franca da Madeira [ZFM]. The […]
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3. July 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Transactions at Market Rates Can still Confer an Advantage that Constitutes State aid (PART II)
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Introduction When public authorities buy goods and services for themselves, they have to pay a market price, otherwise they confer an abnormal advantage to the sellers. On 14 June 2023, the General Court, in case T‑79/21, Ryanair & Airport Marketing Services v European Commission, ruled that public authorities still confer an abnormal advantage by buying good and services that they […]
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27. June 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Transactions at Market Rates Can still Confer an Advantage that Constitutes State aid (PART I)
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Introduction When public authorities buy goods and services for themselves, they have to pay a market price, otherwise they confer an abnormal advantage to the sellers. On 14 June 2023, the General Court, in case T-79/21, Ryanair & Airport Marketing Services v European Commission, ruled that public authorities still confer an abnormal advantage by buying good and services that they […]
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20. June 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

Regulatory Measures Are not State aid & Trade Unions Are not “Interested Party”
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Introduction This article reviews two recent judgments dealing with the concept of state resources and the meaning of “interested party”, respectively. State resources On 8 June 2023, the Court of Justice clarified, by its judgment in case C-50/21, Prestige and Limousine SL, that purely regulatory measures may confer and advantage without, however, granting State aid.1 The Court was responding to […]
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13. June 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

How the Infringement of Non-State aid Rules Can Affect the Compatibility of State aid
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Introduction  It is now well-established that if a State aid measure is inherently or indissolubly linked to a an infringement of EU law outside the field of State aid it cannot be found to be compatible with the internal market.  As a result of the judgment of the General Court on 24 May 2023, in case T-268/21, Ryanair v European […]
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6. June 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

A First Case of “Significant Market Power”
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Introduction On the same day that the General Court ruled on the recapitalisation of SAS, it also ruled on the recapitalisation of Lufthansa in case T-34/21, Ryanair v European Commission.1 In the latter case, Ryanair sought the annulment of Commission decision SA.57153 of June 2020 by which the Commission approved injection of capital in Deutsche Lufthansa [DLH] of the amount […]
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30. May 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

The 2020 Temporary State aid Framework and Recapitalisation of Undertakings
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Introduction Ryanair has challenged many Commission decisions authorising State aid for its rivals. In 2021 and 2022, the General Court delivered 12 judgments concerning covid-19-related aid granted to other airlines. Of those 12 judgments, Ryanair temporarily won only three. Its wins were transient because the General Court suspended the annulment of the relevant Commission decisions, on the grounds that the […]
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23. May 2023  |   State Aid Uncovered by Phedon Nicolaides

The Temporary Framework Allows Member States to Grant Aid only to SMEs 
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Introduction  Although discrimination is in general prohibited in the EU, the fact remains that in the field of State aid Member States may grant State aid only to certain companies and may also decide how much aid to grant.  That the granting of State aid relies solely on the discretion of Member States has recently been re-confirmed by the General […]
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27. November 2014  |   Guest State Aid Blog by Juan Jorge Piernas Lopez

Tax Rulings and State Aid: Now or Never
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This comment looks at the Commission’s decisions to open in-depth investigations into the tax treatment of Apple, Starbucks and Fiat Finance and Trade by Ireland, The Netherlands and Luxembourg.   The European Commission has recently opened three in-depth investigations under Article 108(2) TFEU concerning tax rulings in Ireland, The Netherlands and Luxembourg with regard to the corporate income tax to be paid by Apple, Starbucks […]
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