Erika Lofquist is Legal Adviser the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the EU in Brussels. She has previously worked at the Office of the Swedish Prime Minister, the Swedish Ministry of Justice, and European Commission - DG COMP. Ms. Lofquist hold an LL.M. from the College of Europe, and an LL.B. from the University of Durham.
88
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 20 April, the Commission adopted two decisions approving the funding mechanism that was in place for the Danish broadcaster TV2 between 1995 and 2002. The first decision concluded that state financing received during the (...)
115
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 20 April, the Commission concluded that the national venture capital fund which aims to encourage the raising of risk capital for young innovative SMEs is compatible with the guidelines on risk capital. The French national (...)
122
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* Following the Court annulment of a Commission decision of 2005, on 20 April the Commission adopted a decision stating that the purchase price paid by the Finnish municipality Karkkila to Componenta does not constitute state aid (...)
121
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* Following an in-depth investigation, on 20 April the Commission decided that financial support of €55 million to automotive supplier Trèves from the Fonds de Modernisation des Equipementiers Automobiles (FMEA) does not constitute (...)
113
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 31 March, the Commission approved several measures in favour of Kommunalkredit Austria AG. Before the crisis, Kommunalkredit was the seventh largest Austrian bank with a balance sheet of €37 billion. Its business consisted of (...)
135
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 23 March, the Commission also adopted a Communication on the revision of European Union State aid rules on Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) and a report on their application. These rules, also known as the 2005 (...)
162
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 23 March, the Commission authorised £180 million (€212 million) of public assistance to the UK Post Office Limited (POL) for the funding of its network of post offices during one year starting 1 April 2011. The Commission also (...)
85
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 23 March, the Commission authorised Denmark’s plans to establish a new public service radio, channel FM4, to increase competition on the country’s radio market for public service programming by supporting the creation of a new (...)
99
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* By its decision of 23 March, the Commission authorised a grant of €19.2 million to the Italian sports car producer De Tomaso SpA for a project to train its workforce at its two production sites in Grugliasco (Piedmont) and (...)
97
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 23 March, the Commission decided that investment aid for Glunz and OSB Deutschland, two interlinked plants, constituted state aid that was compatible with the internal market under Article 107(3) TFEU. The measure was (...)
55
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* The Commission decided on 15 March that a so-called reorganisation clause, or «Sanierungsklausel«, under German corporate tax law amounts to State aid. The provision enables an ailing company to offset losses in a given year (...)
156
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 8 March, the Commission authorised DKK15 million (approximately Eur. 2 million) of public funding for a pilot programme incentivising the purchase of electric cars until 31 December 2012. The scheme supports projects designed (...)
129
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* After an in-depth investigation opened in 2009, on 8 March the Commission rejected a specific provision of the revised Green Electricity Act of Austria (Ökostromgesetznovelle 2008) that would have provided energy-intensive (...)
44
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 8 March, the Commission closed a formal investigation procedure opened in 2009 and found that a state guarantee put in place by France to cover the exchange rate risk for aeronautic suppliers (Aero 2008) does not constitute (...)
261
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 7 March, the Commission authorised an emergency recapitalisation of up to €250 million for the Slovenian bank Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB). NLB passed the stress tests conducted in mid-2010 by the European Banking Authority (...)
64
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 3 March, the Commission requested Spain to abolish a 2002 provision in its corporate tax law that allows Spanish companies to amortise ‘financial goodwill’ deriving from acquisitions of shareholdings in companies in third (...)
86
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* The Commission decided on 18 February to authorise air transport aid of a social character for certain residents in the French overseas department of Martinique. The aid will increase the aid applicable to air transport between (...)
98
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 5 February, the Commission approved a support package and restructuring plan for the ABN AMRO Group, subject to certain conditions. The restructuring package has been under implementation since October 2008, when the Dutch (...)
199
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 28 January the Commission published a guide to help public authorities understand how Member States may finance services of general interest in compliance with State aid rules. The ’Guide to the application of the European (...)
96
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* The Commission decided in two cases on 26 January and 23 February that a French scheme to support supplementary welfare cover for local government staff is compatible with Article 107(2)(a) of the TFEU, which permits aid of a (...)
87
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 26 January, the Commission authorised Spain to grant an interest-free reimbursable loan of €129 million to Aernnova for the development of the next-generation horizontal tail plane (HTP) for the future Airbus A350 XWB. When (...)
115
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 26 January, the Commission authorised France to provide a €26 million direct grant for the construction of a district heating network in the North-East of Paris. The aid beneficiary is CPCU, a subsidiary of GDF Suez and the (...)
242
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 12 January, the Commission authorised France to provide a €25.3 million grant for the construction of a heat boiler using a renewable energy source (geothermal energy) in Beinheim, the Alsace region. The project also involves (...)
84
State aid: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2011* On 5 February, the Commission approved a support package and restructuring plan for the ABN AMRO Group, subject to certain conditions. The restructuring package has been under implementation since October 2008, when the Dutch (...)
19 avenue Jean Aicard
75011 Paris, France
106 West 32nd Street, Suite 149
New York, NY, 10001, USA
563 Chiswick High Road
W4 3AY London, UK