Europäisches Beihilfenrecht Blog

State Aid Uncovered by Prof Phedon Nicolaides

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

4. Februar 2020  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

How to Compensate for the Extra Cost of Public Service Obligations: Step-by-Step Guidance on a Complex Calculation
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost5 SGEI
The “net avoided cost methodology” takes into account only incremental costs. Introduction The two most difficult issues in the design of State aid measures to support services of general economic interest [SGEI] are the proper definition of the public service obligation [PSO] and the identification of the “counterfactual” on the basis of which the public service compensation [PSC] is calculated. […]
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28. Januar 2020  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

State Aid Rules in the UK after Brexit: Alignment or Divergence?
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost4 Brexit
The current rules will apply at least until 31 December 2020. Introduction On Saturday, 1 February 2020, the United Kingdom will no longer be a Member of the European Union. Will it then have to abide by EU State aid rules? According to the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU, the whole of the UK will […]
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23. Januar 2020  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

Public Subsidies to Households Can Be State aid
State Aid Blogs - m 44
Support for individual borrowers can be indirect State aid to banks.   Introduction The fact that a public measure has social objectives and aims to help poor households or disadvantaged persons instead of undertakings does not necessarily remove it from the reach of State aid rules. During the past decade, in response to the economic crisis, a number of Member […]
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14. Januar 2020  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

Exclusive Rights and Legal Monopolies
StateAidHub_LegalMonopolies
State aid rules can apply to sectors which are legal monopolies. Introduction The fact that a company enjoys exclusive rights and operates in a sector covered by a legal monopoly does not necessarily insulate it from State aid rules. This has been confirmed by the Court of Justice in its judgment of 19 December 2019, in case C-385/18, Arriva Italia […]
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7. Januar 2020  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

Bail-in Is the Responsibility of Member States
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost1 Bail In 2
Commission approval of State aid to bail-out a bank does not give rise to right for compensation for creditors who are bailed-in. Introduction Investors in banks who lost their money have sought compensation both at EU and national level. So far, claims for damages at EU level have been unsuccessful. In some instances, the cases before EU and national courts […]
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27. Dezember 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Lexxion Publisher

5 Most Read Articles on StateAidUncovered in 2019
State Aid Blogs - 5 most read articles 2019
Groundbreaking judgments like “Eesti Pagar”, applications of the private investor principle in air transport or questions of interpretation of the GBER besides many more, have moved and shaped this year’s judgments on State aid. Also Brexit and its meaning for State aid control in the UK has still been on everyone’s mind. See which articles by Prof. Phedon Nicolaides were […]
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23. Dezember 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

A Preferential Electricity Tariff Is Selective, Confers an Advantage and Distorts Competition
State Aid Blogs - StateAidUncovered blogpost53 Alouminion
A judicial decision on interim measures is a selective measure. The private investor test does not apply to judicial decisions on interim measures. Introduction On 11 December 2019, in case C‑332/18 P, Mytilinaios Anonymos Etairia — Omilos Epicheiriseon v European Commission, the Court of Justice probably wrote the last chapter in a long-running case concerning privileges that had been granted […]
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17. Dezember 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

Can a Tax (rather than a Tax Exemption) Confer a Selective Advantage?
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost52 Stateaid Lexxion TAX Water Spain European Commission
A tax that is levied at one level of government and does not apply to products and activities at a different level of government need not be selective. Introduction A tax exemption normally confers a selective advantage, unless it is justified by the logic of the tax. Counterintuitively, a tax itself can be selectively advantageous if its scope is too […]
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10. Dezember 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

Retroactive Application of the GBER
State Aid Blogs - m
When an aid scheme is adjusted by limiting the eligible beneficiaries, it becomes “new” aid and must be notified to the Commission. The GBER can be applied retroactively to aid that was granted before it came into force.   Introduction In July 2016, Dilly’s Wellnesshotel wrote legal history for being the first undertaking to contest the application of the General […]
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5. Dezember 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

Will Brexit Usher in Protectionism?
State Aid Blogs - StateAid Blogpost Brexit EU Lexxion
The Financial Times reported on Friday, 29 November 2019, that the Conservative party in the UK announced that it would establish a different state aid system to “protect British industry after Brexit”. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was quoted to have said at a press conference on the same date that the new state aid system would make it “faster […]
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23. Juli 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

The Rights of Unsuccessful Bidders in the Auctioning of State Assets
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost29 stateassets nuerburgring
Competitors of aid recipients may challenge a Commission decision only if State aid causes substantial harm to them. Assets must be sold to the highest bidder who makes a credible offer. Introduction If a public authority sells a state asset at a price below its market rate it grants State aid to the buyer. The market price is the highest […]
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16. Juli 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

Investor Protection and Existing Aid
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost28 Investment Romania StateAid Commission EU Lexxion
Aid granted before accession to the EU may not be assessed by the Commission. Introduction It is fairly safe to say that in the sixty years of case law on State aid, the Court of Justice has ruled that there are just four instances in which payment of public money to an undertaking does not constitute State aid on the […]
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9. Juli 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

1) The European Commission Does not Have to Identify Individual Beneficiaries in its Recovery Decisions 2) Revision of the GBER [InvestEU, Seal of Excellence, ETC]
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost27 GBER
This week’s article deals with two issues: possible defence against repayment of incompatible State aid and the forthcoming revision of the GBER. Introduction In 2008, the Commission ordered France to recover incompatible aid that had been granted by means of several public measures to support farmers [see Commission decision 2009/402]. What made that decision interesting was that part of the […]
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2. Juli 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

Application of the MEOP to Energy Infrastructure
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost26 energy infrastructure
A public authority that acts as a private operator may charge what the market can bear. Introduction In January 2019, Germany notified to the Commission, for reasons of legal certainty, investment of the municipality of Hamburg in a district heating network. The Commission, in decision SA.52390, found that the investment in Hamburg District Heating Network conformed with the Market Economy […]
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25. Juni 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

How to Value Land in Complex Land Swaps
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost25 LandSwap RealdMadrid
A private investor assesses all components of a complex transaction and takes into account not just profit, but also the legal implications of the prospective transaction and possible future liability.   Introduction   When a public authority sells land, it should either auction it through a competitive and unconditional process or have it valued beforehand by an independent expert.Sometimes, public […]
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18. Juni 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

Is it OK to Tax Company Size?*
State Aid Blogs -
Progressive tax rates that are consistent with the objective of the tax system are not necessarily selective. Introduction Member States are free to design their corporate tax systems as long as they do not grant State aid or infringe fundamental internal market freedoms. A question that arises in discussions on what Member States may or may not do when designing […]
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2 Kommentare
11. Juni 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

I) Unlimited State Guarantees II) Effect on Trade
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost23
A competitor who wants to challenge a Commission decision authorising State aid without a formal investigation must, first, show that it is seriously harmed by the aid. Introduction This week’s article reviews two judgments: one on unlimited state guarantees granted by France [case T-135/17, Scor v European Commission][1] and another on aid that was found not to affect trade between Member […]
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4. Juni 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

Not Every Compensation Is a Compensation in the Meaning of Altmark
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost22 electricity Altmark SGEI
Regulation and licensing do not constitute obligations for the provision of an SGEI. Compensation for changes in public policy is not compensation that complies with the Altmark conditions. Introduction The calculation of the compensation for the net extra costs of public service obligations [PSO] is a difficult task. On 15 May 2019, in case C-706/17, Achema et al v Lithuania […]
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28. Mai 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

What Happens when Internal Market Rules and State Aid Rules Clash?
State Aid Blogs - StateAidHub blogpost21 Tax Refund
A tax refund may not be granted, if it constitutes non-notified State aid.   Introduction   It is a well-established principle that restrictions on internal market rights or freedoms may not be attached to a State aid measure. Indeed, current State aid rules [e.g. GBER, guidelines] explicitly exclude from their scope any aid measure which is inseparably linked to a […]
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21. Mai 2019  |   State Aid Uncovered von Phedon Nicolaides

There Is No Threshold below which Economic Activities Can Be Considered to be Non-economic
State Aid Blogs - StateaidHub blogpost20 Lexxion Port Economic Activities
Non-economic activities have to be accounted separately from economic activities. The exercise of public tasks assigned by the state cannot protect an undertaking from State aid rules. State aid distorts competition even when it aims to remedy distortions. Introduction Ports, like other transport infrastructures, may operate under public obligations some of which may be of economic and some of non-economic […]
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