Carole Maczkovics is a counsel at Covington, in the Brussels office. As a member of Covington’s competition team, she manages complex State aid and EU law matters for public and private entities, including administrative and judicial proceedings before the European Commission, and before the Belgian and European courts. She also assist clients with the application of the new EU Foreign Subsidy Regulation and UK subsidy control regime. Drawing on her strong regulatory and public contracting background, as well as a deep expertise in highly regulated sectors, such as transport (rail and air) and energy, she helps clients achieve their strategic objectives. Carole is also a visiting lecturer on the application of the regulation and competition law in the rail sector at King’s College London and at the Brussels School of Competition, where she trains in-house lawyers in State aid at EFE, Paris, and serves as an academic director at the European State aid Law Institute. In her spare time, she volunteers in the cultural sector (Rosas), and enjoys nature walks, running and open water swimming.
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The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (“FSR”) enters into force today, 12 July 2023. It creates a new instrument designed to prevent foreign subsidies from distorting the EU internal market (see our blog). The objective is to level the playing field within EU markets between companies subject to (...)
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What does the new EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) mean for companies doing business in the EU?* The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) adopted in December 2022 creates a new instrument to prevent foreign subsidies from distorting the European Union (EU) internal market. It aims to (...)
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The European Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, announced on 20 March 2023 that new State aid investigations into “aggressive tax planning” practices of multinationals can be expected. This follows an in-depth inquiry into tax ruling practices in European Union (“EU”) Member States (...)
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As part of “A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net Zero Age” to respond to the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) (see our alert), the European Commission (the “Commission”) adopted on 9 March 2023 its Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework for State Aid measures to support the economy (...)
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Belgium introduced an FDI screening mechanism anticipated to enter into force on July 1, 2023, adding yet another jurisdiction in the EU which has adopted national measures to implement the EU’s FDI Regulation (EU) 2019/452. The new Belgian regime may place additional compliance obligations on (...)
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Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (FSR) entered into force on 12 January 2023 and will start to apply as of 12 July 2023. The FSR creates a brand new instrument to fill a regulatory (...)
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On 4 January 2023, the UK’s new subsidy control regime came into force, implementing a new subsidy regulation framework designed for the post-Brexit era. Underpinned by the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (the “Act”), related statutory instruments and government guidance, the new regime aims to (...)
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On 28 October 2022, the European Commission (the “Commission”) adopted the second amendment to its Temporary Crisis Framework for State Aid measures to support the economy following the aggression against Ukraine by Russia (the “Framework”). The second amendment to the Framework extends its (...)
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On 19 October 2022, the European Commission (the “Commission”) adopted its new State aid Framework for research, development and innovation (the “2022 RDI aid Framework”). This instrument governs Member States’ investment in RDI activities. It is an important response to the 2020 Commission (...)
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On 4 May 2022, the European Parliament (the “Parliament”) adopted its position on the proposal of the European Commission (the “Commission”) for a Regulation on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (the “Foreign Subsidies Regulation”) (see our alert on the proposal). It confirms (...)
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On 28 April 2022, the Subsidy Control Bill (the “Bill”) received Royal Assent, becoming the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (the “Act”). The Act lays the basic framework for the new UK-wide subsidy control regime, which is now expected to come into force in Autumn 2022. Although the Act primarily (...)
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On 23 March 2022, the European Commission (the “Commission”) adopted a Temporary Crisis Framework for State Aid measures to support the economy following the aggression against Ukraine by Russia (the “Framework”). In a similar fashion to the temporary framework that the Commission has adopted (...)
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On 25 November 2021, the Commission adopted its revised Communication on the Criteria for the analysis of the compatibility with the internal market of State aid to promote the execution of important projects of common European interest (“IPCEI”). This is particularly relevant for companies (...)
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In September 2014, the European Commission (EC) decided not to oppose the creation by SNCF and SNCB of a full function joint venture, Thalys JV. The EC deemed the concentration to be compatible with the internal market. The decision was made available in French in December. As of 1 January (...)
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There is no doubt that undertakings entrusted with the provision of services of general economic interest (SGIEs) are subject to the rules in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), including its state aid rules. However, compensation for providing such public services (...)
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On 20 March 1997, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judged that Member States are obliged to revoke a decision granting unlawful aid that the Commission has declared incompatible and which it has ordered recovery (case C-24/95). The CJEU’s preliminary ruling was referred by (...)
