Abstract: The European Commission has used soft law instruments to tackle the COVID-19 crisis. In so doing, it not only tried to accommodate the emergency within the flexibilities inherent in EU law, but it also assumed, along with national authorities, its own share of responsibility to respond to economic and public health issues. By taking as a...
Abstract: Based on the assumption that the COVID-19 pandemic might provide the occasion to re-think the role of aircraft passenger transportation, this Insight advocates a re-evaluation of the market models developed over the past decades to deregulate the airline industry. The first aspect on which the Insight focuses is the...
Abstract: The purpose of this Insight is to illustrate how State aid law will work in this troubled time. First, it focuses on Art. 107, para. 3, let. b) and c), TFEU and the Temporary Framework adopted by the European Commission to support the economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, it clarifies the role that Art. 107...
Abstract: This Insight examines the clarification provided by the General Court’s ruling in Tercas (namely, judgment of 19 March 2019, joined cases T-98/16, T-196/16 and T-198/16, Italy and Others v. Commission) with regard to two constituent elements of the notion of State aid: the “imputability to the State” and the “use...
Abstract: Antritrust and Coopservice (judgment of 19 December 2018, case C-216/17) is a peculiar product of the Court of Justice. It is one of a kind in aggregate procurement, a subfield of public procurement that has remained virtually untouched by the Court. A number of very helpful and reasonable directions can be drawn from this judgment with respect to...
Abstract: EEG 2012 (judgment of 28 March 2019, case C-405/16 P, Germany v. Commission) deals with the assessment under EU State aid rules of a German renewable energy support mechanism in force from 2012 to 2014. The case hinged on the proper interpretation and application of the criterion of State resources. The Court of Justice...
Abstract: In Commission v. FIH Holding and FIH Erhvervsbank (judgement of 6 March 2018, case C-579/16 P), the Court of Justice dealt with the case of a bank, beneficiary of an aid scheme, that had already been granted a number of benefits, which were approved by the European Commission as aid schemes compatible with the internal market. The...
Abstract: Selectivity is a tricky notion when applied to fiscal aid, mostly because of the peculiar structure of this type of aid. As recent tax ruling cases (such as Apple, Fiat and Starbucks) have shown, the definition of the notion of fiscal aid is becoming crucial in determining the relationship between supranational...
Abstract: On 30 August 2016, the European Commission concluded that Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to Euro 13 billion to Apple and ordered the recovery of the – allegedly – illegal State Aid. This Insight criticises the Commission’s approach in the Apple case as well as in other recent State aid cases. The Commission’s approach is...
Abstract: Germany's former law on renewable energy constitutes State aid illegal under EU law. The General Court dismissed Germany’s action for annulment of a Commission Decision, finding that a renewable energy surcharge payable by electricity consumers for the benefit of those electricity producers using renewable sources effectively equalled the...