State Aid

The intersection between fiscal state aid and taxation has become more topical than ever. Mounting financial crises have left EU Member States scrambling to increase their tax revenue, balance their budgets, and attract capital. Taking advantage of these trends, multinational enterprises have lobbied for favourable tax arrangements, raising questions about the breadth of control the Commission can and should practise. To address egregious instances of favourable taxation, the Commission has tried to simultaneously use soft law and deploy Treaty rules on state aid. Fiscal State Aid Law and Harmful Tax Competition in the EU examines the use of state aid rules against national tax measures. Kyriazis's book presents a targeted investigation of these measures in two parts. The first part addresses Commission decisions and ECJ judgments of the early 2000s, which the author calls the "first wave". The second part consists of all the recent Commission decisions and investigations into tax schemes and individual tax rulings, most notably the Apple, Fiat, Starbucks, and Amazon investigations, which Kyriazis labels the "second wave". The characteristics and common threads of each wave are set out, their similarities and differences dissected, and their nexus to the EU's fight against harmful tax competition explored. Containing a thorough analysis of the legal concept of fiscal state aid under Article 107(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, this book will be of interest to scholars of European and International Tax law and practitioners working in the field of European competition law.

The book provides insights to the alleviation of tensions between Chinese tax incentives and the WTO's subsidy rules, thus further offering implications for both China and the WTO on integrating in the world economy. Moreover, doing a comparative study with EU State aid law can also provide China with a source of inspiration for reviewing its legal mechanism in respect of tax incentives and the WTO for rethinking its subsidy rules with regard to achieving its objectives and purposes. Academics and students in related subject will be interested to read the book. Practitioners doing business related to China, EU and international trade can be very interested in this book. Policymakers in both China and EU can also get valuable knowledge and inspiration from the book.

The thesis explores the issues of governmental interventions in the development of gas infrastructure in the certain group of EU and Energy Community countries, namely Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine, referred as ‘securitized’ gas sectors. In particular, the thesis focuses on the process of application of the measures of services of general economic interest (SGEI) and state aid in the chosen group of countries to ensure investment in infrastructure in line with the strategic visions in ensuring national energy security. The thesis focuses on the main EU legal provisions in relation to gas infrastructure, the investment decision-making process in EU gas infrastructure, the evolution of SGEI and state aid concepts and their application in gas sector. The thesis also provides the detailed analysis of the three country cases representing ‘securitized’ gas sectors, their structural specificity, the issues in applying EU acquis and the actual impact of the measures on energy security and market functioning. The thesis also provides with the holistic assessment of the impact of such measures on attaining common EU and Energy Community goals and future of the energy sectors towards climate neutrality.

In diesem Open-Access-Buch wird die Grenze zwischen der nationalen Autonomie auf dem Gebiet des Steuerrechts und dem Verbot staatlicher Beihilfen innerhalb des EU-Binnenmarkts untersucht. Unumstritten ist in der Rechtsprechung und im Schrifttum, dass sich das unionsrechtliche Beihilfeverbot auf das nationale Steuerrecht auswirkt. Allerdings ist es bis heute nicht gelungen, die richtige Grenze zwischen der Beihilfenkontrolle im Steuerrecht einerseits und der Tatsache eines notwendigen Gestaltungsspielraums des Gesetzgebers im nicht unionsrechtlich harmonisierten Steuerrecht andererseits herauszuarbeiten. Der Autor untersucht die einzelnen Tatbestandsmerkmale des Beihilfeverbots in Art. 107 AEUV im Hinblick auf die Besonderheiten des nationalen Steuerrechts. Dabei wird die Rechtsprechung des Europäischen Gerichtshofs kritisch hinterfragt und ein eigener Prüfungsmaßstab entwickelt.

This book analyzes the issue of European fiscal State aid in order to provide insights into the related evolution prospects and legal problems. State aid has assumed a central position in the field of taxation, becoming the most important instrument of European legal integration, especially in the area of direct taxes. This is the result of major regulatory and interpretative development, which has altered the initial European and national balances in the face of globalization and the problems of the new economy. In this context, the scope and objectives of State aid have progressively broadened, encompassing a significant level of both positive and negative integration of European national tax systems.

The second edition of the book Milestones in State Aid Law offers an updated and expanded overview of the landmark judgments of the European Courts in the field of EU State aid law. Covering cases from the last 20 years of jurisprudence, and written by leading State aid experts, this edited volume is the ultimate case law reference book on EU State aid law.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of how EU state aid law is shaping the future of EU investment policy in a global context. It examines in detail how EU state aid policy and practice interact with the EU investment regime on the internal market and affect the external trade relations of the Member States and the EU alike. The debate this book engages in concerns competence, i.e., which body delineates the scope of state aid law and policy (now and in the future) when and where it intersects and collides with another distinct legal field: investment protection.  Pursuing a doctrinal approach to the topic in the light of EU law and international law, the book analyses the interaction of the EU's trade, state aid and investment policy. This is done by posing the following research question: How is EU state aid law shaping the future of EU investment policy in a global context? Further, the book puts forward three corresponding arguments. First, this influence can be seen in the EU's incorporation of clauses promoting fair competition and state aid policy in international trade agreements. Second, EU state aid law and policy contributed to recent internal developments which led the Member States to terminate their bilateral agreements with each other (intra-EU BITs) by the end of 2019. Third, the EU has been working to replace the BITs between its Member States and third countries (extra-EU BITs) with its own trade agreements, which are aligned with EU legislation. This combined analysis of EU law and international law yields a number of interesting conclusions. The book addresses a highly topical and rapidly evolving area of EU law and international investment law. It is also the first book to provide a comprehensive approach to the interplay of state aid rules and EU investment policy internally and externally, i.e., within the EU and on a global scale. As such, it closes an important gap in the extant literature on international and EU law. 

This book deals with de minimis aid and demonstrates that it is both a sui generis legal concept in the context of State aid and subject to a complex regime. On the one hand, it is a sui generis concept in that (i) it seeks to strike a balance between simplifying the grant process and not distorting competition in the internal market, while being a tool that Member States are able to apply easily and (ii) it is subject to ex ante control by Member States. On the other hand, it is complex in that (i) it requires determining the sectors of economic activity it applies to; (ii) a few notions specific to the regime are not easy to understand, such as the notion of "single undertaking"; and (iii) it requires combining four de minimis regimes (one general and three special), which in turn requires reconciling those regimes with each other and with other aid, not least because of the cumulation rules. Lastly, these particularities were also reflected in the recovery regime for unlawful de minimis aid. Aimed at lawyers, legal consultants and those working in undertakings as well as students, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the current de minimis regimes and is clear and complete, while also proposing a fresh view on the area of EU State aid law.

This book analyzes the issue of European fiscal State aid in order to provide insights into the related evolution prospects and legal problems. State aid has assumed a central position in the field of taxation, becoming the most important instrument of European legal integration, especially in the area of direct taxes. This is the result of major regulatory and interpretative development, which has altered the initial European and national balances in the face of globalization and the problems of the new economy. In this context, the scope and objectives of State aid have progressively broadened, encompassing a significant level of both positive and negative integration of European national tax systems.

Le droit des aides d’État a longtemps été le « parent pauvre » du droit de la concurrence qui s’est surtout focalisé sur des matières connues dans les États membres : le contrôle des ententes, des abus de positions dominantes et le droit des concentrations. Si le contrôle des comportements anticoncurrentiels des entreprises est finalement chose aisée, il n’en va pas de même à l’égard de ceux commis par la puissance publique ; un tel contrôle ne pouvant s’effectuer que dans un cadre supranational. Institué dès le Traité CECA, le versement d’aides d’État est passé d’un principe absolu d’interdiction en 1951 à un examen encadré de compatibilité à partir de 1957. Depuis lors, la pratique décisionnelle de la Commission, la jurisprudence constructive des juges européens conjuguées à l’augmentation exponentielle du nombre de cas à traiter (consécutivement à l’apparition de crises multiples puis durables de l’économie européenne) ont conduit à donner des contours précis à la notion d’aide d’État, à forger des règles de procédure à cet examen de compatibilité, à impliquer les autorités nationales dans la discipline des aides d’État, à inventer des sanctions spécifiques en cas d’allocation d’aides illégales et incompatibles avec le traité. Ce manuel entend définir les principaux concepts (Qu’est-ce qu’une aide d’État ? Qu’est-ce qu’une compensation d’obligation de service public ? Qu’est-ce qu’une aide de minimis ?...), détailler les règles en vigueur (Qu’est-ce qu’une aide existante, une aide nouvelle ? Qu’est-ce qu’une aide illégale et/ou incompatible ?), restituer le rôle de chacun des acteurs de cette matière (Quels pouvoirs/devoirs pour la Commission, les juges européens, les autorités et les juges nationaux ?) et exposer les enjeux propres à cette matière (À quoi sert le droit des aides d’État ? Celui-ci est-il instrumentalisé à d’autres fins que l’établissement d’une concurrence pure et parfaite ?...). À jour des dernières réformes législatives (RGEC 2017 modifié, règlement de procédure 2015, « législation » Covid) et des jurisprudences de la Cour de justice (tous les arrêts de février 1961 à juin 2021) comme des juridictions nationales, ce manuel intéressera les avocats spécialisés en droit public et en droit de la concurrence, les magistrats administratifs, les juristes des collectivités locales et des administrations centrales ainsi que les universitaires.

This revised and updated Research Handbook on European State Aid Lawbrings together established academics and practitioners to provide a wide-ranging coverage of the field. Incorporating political science, economics and the law in its analysis, it provides a strong overview of the salient issues in State aid law and policy. Chapters address the significance of State aid to various aspects of the political and legal systems of the Member States, including taxation, the financial sector, and the interplay between EU rules on State aid, free movement and public procurement. The Research Handbook further examines the application of the State aid rules to major sectors of the EU economy and introduces brand new themes for State aid analysis, such as arbitration, social services and the impact of Brexit. Featuring theoretical explorations and empirical studies, this Research Handbook will be crucial reading for scholars and researchers of EU State aid law, especially those searching for new avenues of research. It will also be a useful reference point for officials in national governments and the European Commission who are engaged in the State aid approval process. Judges hoping to expand their knowledge of EU State aid law and policy will also benefit from this insightful Research Handbook.

European State Aid Law provides a wide-ranging comparative review of the applicable European rules: prohibited aid, compatible aid, control procedure. Extensively referencing case law and legislative and regulatory sources, European State Aid Law interprets the various complex rules and illustrates how they may interact and develop.

Recent years have seen significant evolution in the European Commission's approach to State aid policy. This thought-provoking book analyses the enforcement of State Aid law in the aftermath of the State aid Modernization initiative, identifying a number of emerging trends at both national and EU level. Eminent scholars unpack the recent developments that have contributed to the decentralization of the enforcement of State Aid law, including the General Block Exemption Regulation which allows a larger number of aid schemes to be implemented by national authorities without prior notification to the European Commission. Timely contributions also consider the increasing role of national courts in the enforcement of State aid rules, as well as the Commission's current reliance on State Aid policy to pursue common objectives of EU interest, thus shaping a de facto EU industrial policy. This discerning book is a key resource for students and scholars specializing in both State Aid law and EU law more widely. Containing detailed analysis of the legal and economic consequences of State Aid Modernization, EU State Aid Law will also interest practitioners, economists, and public officials involved in State Aid enforcement