Markus Wellinger

On 4 March 2021, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) delivered another interesting judgment (Case C-362/19 P) in the “Spanish football club saga”, which set aside the General Court’s (“GC”) judgment of 26 February 2019, Fútbol Club Barcelona v Commission (Case T-865/16, the “judgment under appeal”), (...)

On 2 March 2021, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice (“ECJ”) confirmed the judgment of the General Court (“GC”) in Tercas (19 March 2019, Italy and Others v Commission, Joined Cases T-98/16, T-196/16 and T-198/16). The judgments on appeal and at first instance provide important guidance on (...)

On 17 February 2021, the General Court delivered two important judgments concerning State aid granted by Sweden (T-238/20) and France (T-259/20), respectively, on the basis of the Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak (the “Covid-19 (...)

On 28 January 2021, the European Commission (“Commission”) amended the Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak (the “Temporary FrameworK”). Below we outline the most relevant amendments : The application of the Temporary Framework is (...)

On 13 January 2021, the European General Court (“GC”) delivered a judgment providing guidance on the standing to challenge European Commission (“Commission”) decisions rejecting State aid complaints, and on the concepts of “State resources” and “imputability” within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU. (...)

On 14 December 2020, the Commission authorised the creation of a € 25 billion Pan-European Guarantee Fund managed by the European Investment Bank (“EIB”) to support companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The creation of this Pan-European Guarantee Fund (the “Fund”) was endorsed by the (...)

On 3 December 2020, Advocate General Kokott delivered her opinion on the appeal brought against the judgment of the General Court in case Belgium and Magnetrol International v Commission (Cases T-131/16 and T-263/16) of 14 February 2019 (the “Judgment under appeal”), which had annulled Commission (...)

On 17 November 2020, the EFTA Court dismissed an application for annulment against the EFTA Surveillance Authority (“ESA”) Decision No 57/19/COL of 10 July 2019 (the “Contested decision”). The Contested decision found that the public financing of eHealth and digital health infrastructure in the (...)

On 30 October 2020, the Commission published the results of its policy evaluation of the State aid modernisation (“SAM”) reform launched in 2012 (the “Fitness Check”). The Fitness Check concerned the State aid rules provided in the General Block Exemption Regulation, the de minimis Regulation, the (...)

On 28 October 2020, the Court of Justice (“ECJ”) answered a reference for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato (Council of State, Italy) concerning the interpretation of Articles 3 and 6 of Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 (...)

On 21 October 2020, the Court of Justice answered a request for a preliminary ruling made by the French Conseil d’État (“Council of State”), which raised interesting questions with regard to the notion of “State resources” within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU. The background of the case (...)

On 15 October 2020, Advocate General Kokott delivered her opinion in Case C-562/19 P, Commission v Poland, concerning the appeal of the General Court’s judgment of 16 May 2019 (Joined Cases T-836/16 and T-624/17). The judgment under appeal annulled the Commissions’ decision to open a formal State (...)

On 13 October 2020, the Commission prolonged the scope of the COVID-19 Temporary Framework adopted on 19 March 2020. All sections of the Temporary Framework have been prolonged for six months (i.e. until 30 June 2021), and the section to enable recapitalisation support is prolonged for three (...)

On 5 October 2020, the General Court delivered another important judgment in the so-called EPIC saga – where “EPIC” is a French acronym standing for “Établissement Public à caractère Industriel et Commercial” (“Publicly owned industrial and commercial establishment”). The EPICs came under the (...)

On 23 September 2020, the General Court delivered another judgment in the “Spanish tax lease saga”, concerning certain aid measures granted through tax provisions applicable to agreements put in place for the financing and acquisition of vessels in Spain. This judgment follows the annulment and (...)

On 22 September 2020, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice (the “Court”) dismissed the appeal brought by Austria against the judgment of the General Court (case T-356/15) that rejected its application for annulment against Commission Decision (EU) 2015/658 of 8 October 2014 on the aid (...)

On 21 September 2020, the Commission published new Guidelines on certain State aid measures in the context of the system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading post-2021 (the “Guidelines”). These Guidelines follow the European Green Deal Communication adopted in 2019 (11.12.2019, COM(2019) (...)

On 17 September 2020, the Court of Justice (the “ECJ” or “Court”) answered several questions raised by a request for a preliminary ruling from the French Conseil d’État, with regard to the interpretation of Commission Decision 2005/239/EC (the “Decision at issue”). This Decision concerned certain aid (...)

On 15 July 2020, the General Court (the “GC”) annulled the European Commission’s (the “Commission”) decision of 30 August 2016 concerning tax rulings adopted by the Irish authorities in relation to two companies forming part of the Apple Group (the “Contested Decision”). The Contested Decision found (...)

On 14 July 2020, the European Commission (the “Commission”) issued a Recommendation to Member States not to grant financial support to companies with links to countries that are on the EU’s list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions. According to the Recommendation, restrictions should also apply (...)

On 2 July 2020, the European Commission (the “Commission”) announced the prolongation of several existing State aid rules which would have otherwise expired at the end of 2020, with the purpose of mitigating the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on companies. In particular : The following texts (...)

The Court of Justice of the European Union’s (the “Court of Justice”) judgment of 11 June 2020, Commission v. Dôvera zdravotná poistʼovňa is another brick in the case law concerning the concept of “undertaking” with regard to health insurance bodies. The background of the case is a Slovak compulsory (...)

On 4 June 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “Court of Justice”) delivered an important judgment clarifying the conditions under which the European Commission (the “Commission”) can issue an injunction on the basis of Article 11 of the former State aid procedural Regulation No (...)

On 13 May 2020, the General Court delivered three judgments in Cases T-607/17,T-716/17,T-8/18, concerning Volotea, Germanwings and easyJet, respectively (the “Applicants”). These judgments follow actions for annulment brought by the Applicants against a decision of the Commission finding that (...)

On 30 April 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “Court of Justice”) delivered another important judgment concerning the complex relationship between State aid and national procedural rules (Case C-627/18, Nelson Antunes da Cunha). The judgment was delivered in response to a (...)

On 26 March 2020, the Court of Justice partially annulled the judgment of the General Court concerning State aid granted by Greece in the context of the privatisation of Larko, a large nickel producer. The Court of Justice found that the ruling at first instance had wrongly applied the Private (...)

On 19 March 2020, the Commission adopted the Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak (“Temporary Framework”). On 4 April 2020, it published a first amendment to the Temporary Frame- work, which significantly broadens its scope of (...)

On 19 March 2020, the European Commission (the “Commission”) adopted the Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID- 19 outbreak (the “Temporary Framework”), which was first amended on 3 April 2020. On 8 May 2020, the Commission adopted another amend- (...)

In the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak and its repercussions on businesses, Member States announced that they will adopt all necessary measures to help undertakings in difficulty. The Commission, well-aware of this, has already adopted measures to guide Member States and ensure that their aid (...)

On 11 March 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “ECJ”) set aside the General Court’s (“GC”) judgment of 17 November 2017, Gmina Miasto Gdynia and Port Lotniczy Gdynia Kosakowo v. Commission (T-263/15, the “GC judgment”), which had annulled the Commission Decision on State aid (...)

On 3 March 2020, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice (the “ECJ”) delivered another judgment in the field of taxation and State aid (Vodafone Magyarország Mobil Távközlési Zrt., C-75/18). While this judgment does not substantially develop the case law in this field, it contains useful (...)

On 7 November 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “ECJ”) delivered a judgment on a request for a preliminary ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court. The request was made in proceedings between several hydroelectricity producers and the Spanish authorities, with regard to the (...)

On 24 September 2019, the General Court delivered two judgments in Cases T-755/15, Luxembourg v. Commission and T-759/15, Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe v. Commission, providing important guidance on the application of the arm’s length principle in the context of State aid investigations (...)

On 20 September 2019, the General Court delivered three judgments (Cases T-673/17, Port autonome du Centre and de l’Ouest and Others v. Commission, T-674/17, Le Port de Bruxelles and Région de Bruxelles-Capitale v. Commission, T-696/17, Havenbedrijf Antwerpen and Maatschappij van de Brugse (...)

On 11 July 2019, the General Court (“GC”) rejected an action for annulment brought by Air France against the European Commission (“Commission”) decision concerning State aid in favour of Marseille Provence Airport as inadmissible (Case T-894/16, Société Air France v. Commission). The judgment offers (...)

On 18 June 2019, the General Court of the European Union (the “General Court”) handed down its long-awaited judgment in the Micula case (Cases T-624/15, T-694/15 and T-704/15, European Food and Others v Commission, EU:T:2019:423). The case finds its origins in the investment made by the Miculas, (...)

On 2 May 2019, the Court of Justice of the EU (“ECJ”) delivered a judgment on a request for a preliminary ruling by the Dutch Court of Appeal of ’s-Hertogenbosch. The request was made in proceedings between A-Fonds, an investment undertaking governed by German law, and the Dutch tax (...)

On 5 March 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “ECJ”) delivered a judgment on a request for preliminary ruling by the Court of Appeal of Tallinn, Estonia, concerning a dispute on certain State aid granted by the Estonian authorities to Eesti Pagar, an Estonian bakery founded in (...)

On 14 February 2019, the General Court (“GC”) issued a judgment annulling the decision of the European Commission (the “Commission”) concerning the Belgian “excess profit” tax rulings (Joined Cases T-131/16 and T-263/16, Belgium and Magnetrol International v. Commission). Under Belgian law, Belgian (...)

On 13 February 2019, the European Commission launched two public consultations on the revision of the Guidelines on certain State aid measures in the context of the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme post-2012, as amended. The Guidelines date from 2012 and will expire on 31 (...)

On 4 February 2019, the European Commission launched a public consultation on a Draft Notice on the recovery of unlawful and incompatible State aid. The Draft Notice is intended to replace the 2007 recovery notice, reflecting changes in the Commission’s practice and case law developments since (...)

On 24 January 2019, the European Commission published its 2018 State Aid Scoreboard. The Scoreboard provides detailed information on the Member States’ aid expenditures in 2017. It is based on expenditure reports by Member States and covers all existing aid measures to industries, services, (...)

On 15 November 2018, the General court (“GC”) issued several judgments in cases relating to a European Commission decision classifying a Spanish tax scheme for the amortisation of financial goodwill as incompatible state aid (Cases T-207/10, T-227/10, T-239/11, T-405/11, T-406/11, T-219/10 and (...)

On 26 April 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) issued judgments on three requests for preliminary rulings from the Spanish Supreme Court regarding the qualification as state aid of regional taxes on large retail establishments situated in the territories of Catalonia (Case (...)

* Article published on StateAidHub.eu Blog (click here), republished in e-Competitions with the courtesy of the author(s). The original title of this article appears below the e-Competitions title. Authors are welcome to write an alternative article on this case/text, provided they have no (...)

On 9 November 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “ECJ”) issued its judgments on appeal in three cases : Case C-656/15 P, European Commission v TV2/Danmark, Case C-657/15 P, Viasat Broadcasting UK v TV2/Danmark and Case 649/15 P, TV2/Danmark v European Commission. All three (...)

On 13 September 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union ( “ECJ”) issued its judgment on a request for a preliminary ruling from the Polish Supreme Court regarding the qualification of a national renewable energy support scheme as state aid (Case C-329/15, ENEA S.A. v Prezes Urzędu (...)

On 8 March 2017, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) handed down its judgement on appeal in case C-660/15 P, Viasat Broadcasting UK (“Viasat”) Ltd v European Commission. The case concerns aid granted to the Danish public broadcaster TV2/Danmark for the execution of public service obligations. In (...)

On 30 November 2016, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) issued its second judgment in the case concerning public statements made by the French authorities in support of France Télécom (“FT” – now Orange) and the offering of a shareholder loan to FT. In 2002, FT, a public limited company, was (...)

On 30 August 2016, the European Commission announced its decision finding that Ireland has granted selective tax advantages to Apple. According to the press release of the Commission, the two tax rulings at stake issued by Ireland to Apple substantially and artificially lowered the tax paid by (...)

On 3 June 2016, the European Commission published a working paper on state aid and tax rulings (the “Working Paper”). The Working Paper brings together relevant findings of the Commission in the politically sensitive area of state aid and corporate taxation. In particular, the Working Paper (...)

On 10 May 2016, the General Court of the European Union (“Court”) handed down a judgment in a case concerning the German law on renewable energy of 2012 (the Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz 2012 - “EEG 2012”) (case T-47/15, Germany vs. Commission). The EEG 2012, which was replaced by a new law in (...)

On 17 December 2015, the General Court (“GC”) handed down its judgment in joined cases T-515/13, Spain v Commission and T-719/13, Lico Leasing SA and Pequeños y Medianos Astilleros Sociedad de Reconversión SA v Commission annulling a 2013 European Commission decision which had found that the (...)

On 12 November 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) handed down a judgment on a reference for a preliminary ruling from the Münster Regional Court in case C-505/14, Klausner Holz Niedersachsen GmbH v Land Nordrhein Westfalen. The case concerns the application of the EU state (...)

On 9 June 2016, the Commission published the non-confidential version of its decision in its state aid investigation into Fiat’s tax arrangements in Luxembourg. As reported previously, the Commission press release issued in October 2015 explained that Luxembourg had breached EU state aid rules (...)

In its judgement handed down on 2 July 2015, the General Court (“GC”) annulled for the second time the EU Commission’s state aid decision relating to public statements made by the French authorities in support of France Télécom (“FT”) and to the offering of a shareholder loan to FT. The alleged state (...)

The European Commission has adopted a revised General Block Exemption Regulation (the revised GBER) for state aid which defines the categories of aid and the conditions under which state aid is exempted from prior notification to the European Commission. The revised GBER will replace the (...)

On 21 May 2014, the European Commission announced that it adopted new rules that will facilitate the granting of state aid in support of research, development and innovation (R&D&I) activities. The new R&D&I state aid rules are set out in, on the one hand, the revised General (...)

On 21 May 2014, the European Commission adopted a Communication imposing new transparency requirements for all state aid awards exceeding € 500,000 (the Communication). Member States are required to ensure the publication of all state aid awards above € 500,000 on a website, either at regional (...)

The European Commission has approved a new set of guidelines on regional aid for the period between 2014 and 2020 (the “Regional Aid Guidelines”). Regional aid covers operating and investment aid granted by public authorities to enterprises in Europe’s most disadvantaged regions and regions (...)

The European Commission has opened a public consultation on reform of the de minimis Regulation. According to this Regulation, aid measures below a certain threshold do not constitute state aid in the meaning of EU state aid rules because they have no impact on competition and trade in (...)

The European Commission has opened a consultation into the EU state aid rules in the aviation section. Due to a heavily changed market environment over the last decade, the European Commission considers it necessary to review the rules on public financing of airports and start-up aid to (...)

On 27 June 2013, Advocate General Mengozzi rendered an opinion clarifying the role of national courts in case of simultaneous state aid investigation by the European Commission (the “Commission”). The case stems from a dispute between Lufthansa and the Frankfurt airport regarding the (...)

In a judgment delivered on 21 March 2013, the ECJ has followed the GC that the European Commission did not correctly apply the hypothetical private creditor test when holding that Poland had granted aid to the Technologie Buczek Group (“TB”). The ECJ confirmed that a comparative analysis (...)

On 20 September 2012, the General Court dismissed an action for annulment brought by France concerning an unlimited implicit guarantee granted to La Poste. La Poste enjoyed a peculiar legal status in France, as it was deemed equivalent to an establishment of an industrial and commercial (...)

In a judgment of 10 July 2012, the General Court disagreed with the European Commission which had held that the formal investigation procedure provided for in Article 108 (2) TFEU should not be initiated when the thresholds relating to market shares and to the increase in production (...)

On 22 May 2012, the European Commission published its long-awaited Communication setting out guidelines on certain state aid measures in the context of the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme (“ETS”) post-2012. The Communication allows national support to companies in a (...)

On 2 March 2012, the General Court (“GC”) has partly upheld ING’s appeal against a Commission decision of 2009 regarding various forms of aid granted by the Dutch State to the banking group ING in the context of the latter’s restructuring plan during the financial crisis. The ING group had (...)

The European Commission has adopted a revised package to assess the public compensation granted to services of general economic interest (“SGEI”) under the EU state aid rules : a new Communication clarifies key concepts underlying the application of the State aid rules to public service (...)

In its judgment of 8 December 2011, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) agreed with the Commission and the General Court that France Télécom had benefited illegally from state aid in the form of tax subsidies between 1994 and 2002. The Commission had investigated the tax (...)

In a preliminary ruling handed down on 8 December 2011, the ECJ interpreted the state aid obligations imposed on national courts as including the obligation to cancel a guarantee by virtue of which unlawful aid was implemented and order the recovery of the aid, provided that there are no (...)

On 15 November 2011, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) ruled that the General Court had erred in annulling the Commission decision qualifying Gibraltar’s proposed tax reform as a state aid scheme. The new corporate tax regime that the Government of Gibraltar intended to adopt was (...)

The General Court has ordered the European Commission to pay damages to Idromacchine Srl (“Idromacchine”), a third party in state aid proceedings, for disclosing its name and detrimental information relating to it in a Commission decision that was published in the Official Journal. In (...)

In its judgment handed down on 13 October 2011, the Court of Justice overturned the General Court’s ruling that appeals by Germany and Deutsche Post AG (“Deutsche Post”) relating to a Commission injunction requesting information in state aid investigations were inadmissible. At issue was (...)

On 29 September 2011, the General Court handed down its judgment concerning complaints by Ryanair concerning alleged state aid to Italian airlines. The General Court found that the Commission had failed in its duty to act on the complaints. The case stems from letters sent by the low (...)

The European Commission has opened a public consultation into state aid funding in the film sector. The consultation constitutes the first step in the review of the 2001 Cinema Communication laying down the current state aid rules on cinematographic and other audiovisual works which will expire (...)

In joined cases T-109/05 and T-444/05, the General Court (“GC”) recently ruled that the Commission had unlawfully refused to grant access to confidential data excluded from the public version of a Commission decision on state aid, and this despite the ulterior annulment of this decision. The (...)

In a Grand Chamber judgment of 24 May 2011, the Court of Justice (“ECJ”) sided with the General Court (“GC”) and confirmed the admissibility of a challenge brought against a Commission decision not to open a formal investigation into a state aid case. At the origin of the case were a number of (...)

On 17 May 2011, the General Court (“GC”) ruled against a Commission decision dated 23 October 2007 ordering Poland to recover state aid granted to the Polish steel producer Technologie Buczek(“TB”) from TB‘s subsidiary Buczek Automotive sp. z o.o. (“BA”). Confronted with financial difficulties, TB (...)

In a judgment of 24 March 2011, the General Court was again called upon to rule on the validity of a decision adopted by the European Commission on 23 July 2008 with regard to an agreement concluded between DHL, FLH (the company operating Leipzig-Halle Airport) and MF (a company holding 94% of (...)

In two judgments of 3 February 2011, the General Court upheld the Commission’s view that a State aid measure, notified by Italy and implemented by allocating an amount of € 10 million in addition to the notified amount (of € 10 million), was incompatible with the common market. The original State (...)

In two judgments of 3 February 2011, the General Court upheld the Commission’s view that a State aid measure, notified by Italy and implemented by allocating an amount of € 10 million in addition to the notified amount (of € 10 million), was incompatible with the common market. The original State (...)

On 22 December 2010, the Court of Justice ruled that Italy had failed to recover State aid which had been declared unlawful by the Commission. In its Decision 2006/261, the Commission declared incompatible with the common market the State aid scheme set up by Italy in the form of tax (...)

On 22 December 2010, the Court of Justice ruled that Italy had failed to recover State aid which had been declared unlawful by the Commission. In its Decision 2006/261, the Commission declared incompatible with the common market the State aid scheme set up by Italy in the form of tax (...)

On 22 December 2010, the Court of Justice ruled that the Slovak Republic had failed to take all measures necessary to recover unlawful aid granted to a former major alcohol producer, Frucona Kosice. The State aid at issue consisted in the writing-off of tax debts by the tax office as part of an (...)

In a judgment of 16 December 2010, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) dismissed an appeal brought by AceaElectrabel Produzione SpA (“AEP”) against a judgment of the General Court upholding a Commission decision concerning State aid that Italy intended to grant for the reduction of greenhouse gas (...)

On 16 December 2010, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) rejected an appeal lodged by Kahla Thüringen Porzellan GmbH (“Kahla Thüringen”) against a judgment of the General Court which upheld a Commission decision ordering the recovery of illegal State aid granted to Kahla Thüringen. Between 1994 (...)

On 16 December 2010, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) set aside for the second time an inadmissibility order from the General Court in the Casino Mont Parnès case. In 2001, a public contract disposing 49% of the capital of the Casino Mont Parnès was awarded by the Greek authorities to the (...)

On 10 December 2010, the General Court rejected a series of claims for annulment brought by Ryanair against implied decisions of the Commission refusing access to documents relating to State aids allegedly granted to Ryanair by several airports. Ryanair sought mainly access to the complaints (...)

On 14 October 2010, the Court of Justice sided with the General Court and dismissed an action for damages brought by two Italian companies, Nuova Agricast and Cofra (the “Appellants”), against the Commission. In 1998, following an invitation published by the Italian authorities, the Appellants (...)

The Commission has just published a handbook on the enforcement of EU State aid law by national courts. The booklet gathers all existing EU materials on the decentralised application of State aid law, aiming to provide a coherent body of applicable provisions and a practical guidance tool to (...)

On 7 October 2010, the General Court rejected DHL’s application for partial annulment of a decision adopted by the Commission on 23 July 2008 with regard to an agreement concluded between DHL and FLH, the company operating Leipzig-Halle Airport. Under the terms of that agreement, FLH was to (...)

In a Communication published on 6 October, the Commission suggests to prolong by one year the so-called Temporary Community framework for State aid measures to support access to finance in the current financial and economic crisis (the “Temporary Framework”), which was adopted on 19 January 2009 (...)

On 13 September 2010, the General Court partly annulled a decision in which the Commission found that the privatization of Olympic Airways had given rise to the award of illegal State aid to the benefit of Olympic Airways and of a company called Olympic Airlines, which took up the flight (...)

On 2 September 2010, the Court of Justice quashed a ruling of the General Court which partly annulled a Commission decision finding illegal State aid in the sale of a parcel of land by the French authorities to Scott S.A. (“Scott”). According to the Commission, Scott unduly benefited from a (...)

On 2 September 2010, the Court of Justice handed down its judgment in the Deutsche Post State aid case. It rejected the Commission’s appeal, thereby confirming the annulment of the Commission decision in question. Deutsche Post operates both in the mail delivery sector, in which it enjoys a (...)

On 15 June 2010, the General Court (the “GC”) dismissed an appeal by Mediaset SpA (“Mediaset”) against a Commission decision in which the Commission had found subsidies granted to consumers in Italy for the purchase of digital terrestrial decoders to constitute unlawful State aid. The GC confirmed (...)

In a judgment handed down on 21 May 2010, the General Court (hereinafter the “GC”) held that statements by the French authorities aimed at assuring France Télécom (hereinafter “FT”) of their support in the context of a major financial crisis experienced by FT did not constitute State aid. According (...)

In an opinion issued on 24 March 2010, Advocate General Niilo Jääskinen agrees with the judgment given by the General Court (hereinafter the “GC”) in 2008 by which the GC overturned a Commission decision ordering Deutsche Post to repay € 572 million of state aid. According to the AG, the Commission (...)

On 2 December 2009, the Court of Justice (the “ECJ”) set aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance (now the General Court (the “GC”)) that had annulled a Commission’s decision declaring exemptions from the excise duty on mineral oils used as fuel for alumina production in France, Ireland and (...)

On 30 November 2009, the Court of First Instance (now the General Court (the “GC”)) issued a judgment dismissing the appeal lodged by France Télécom and France against the decision of the Commission which found that France Télécom had received unlawful State aid in the form of a special tax regime (...)

On 25 November 2009, the Court of First Instance (now the General Court (the “GC”)) dismissed an appeal lodged by Germany against the decision of the European Commission ordering Germany to provide information about a State aid scheme that fell within the scope of Regulation 70/2001, which (...)

On 17 September 2009, the Commission issued new guidelines for the application of State aid rules to the public funding of broadband networks (the ‘Guidelines’). The aim of these Guidelines is to accelerate and extend deployment of broadband networks by providing a transparent and predictable (...)

On 8 September 2009, Advocate General Kokott handed down her opinion in a case concerning the Commission’s refusal to grant access to certain documents in State aid proceedings. The Advocate General essentially agrees with the earlier judgment of the Court of First Instance which found that the (...)

On 23 July 2009, the Commission adopted a temporary Communication on restructuring aid to banks. This Communication complements the previously adopted guidelines on State guarantees, recapitalization and impaired assets in the banking sector and sets out how the Commission will assess (...)

On 9 July 2009, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down its judgment in a case concerning the standing of a trade union, 3F, to challenge the Commission’s decision not to open an in-depth State aid investigation. Contrary to the order of the Court of First Instance (CFI), the ECJ (...)

On 7 July 2009, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) imposed a two-fold penalty on Greece under an Article 228 EC procedure for non-recovery of illegal State aid granted to Olympic Airways. The case dates back to 2002 when the Commission found certain aid granted to Olympic Airways incompatible (...)

On 17 June 2009, the Commission authorised under State aid rules a Danish proposal to grant exemptions from carbon dioxide tax to companies covered by the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). However, the Commission’s clearance decision requires the tax scheme to be amended so that all companies (...)

On 19 May 2009, the Commission published for consultation a draft of Community Guidelines for the application of State aid rules to public funding of broadband networks. The draft Guidelines set out the Commission’s policy in relation to the assessment of State aid to support the deployment of (...)

On 5 March 2009, Advocate General Sharpston gave her opinion on an appeal brought by a trade union, 3F, against an order of the Court of First Instance (“CFI”), which found that the trade union did not have standing to appeal a Commission decision not to open an in-depth investigation under (...)

The Commission has decided to extend the application of the Cinema Communication, adopted in 2001, until the end of 2012. The 2001 Cinema Communication sets out the criteria that the Commission uses in its assessment of national aid schemes supporting the production of cinematographic and other (...)

On 25 February 2009, the Commission adopted a new Notice on the enforcement of State aid law by national courts. The aim of the Notice is to assist national courts in applying the EC State aid rules and also give guidance to potential claimants in relation to State aid challenges at national (...)

In an opinion handed down on 19 February 2009, Advocate General Trstenjak proposes that the Commission’s appeal against a judgment of the Court of First Instance (CFI) which annulled a Commission decision ordering the recovery of illegal aid should be dismissed. The Advocate General considers, (...)

On 30 January 2009, the Commission published a handbook which gives a concise overview of EC State aid legislation applicable to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME). The handbook first clarifies the definition of a SME and thereafter describes the relevant instruments under which aid can (...)

The Commission’s Communication on the recapitalisation of financial institutions in the current financial crisis was published in the Official Journal on 15 January 2009. The general principles on the application of State aid provisions to measures taken in relation to financial institutions in (...)

On 18 December 2008, the Court of First Instance (hereinafter the ‘CFI’) gave its judgment annulling the Commission decision according to which the proposed reform of corporate tax in Gibraltar constitutes unlawful State aid. The CFI found that the Commission had erred in its assessment of both (...)

On 17 December 2008, the Court of First Instance (hereinafter the ‘CFI’) annulled the Commission decision in which the Commission had found that the advantages granted by the Walloon Region and Brussels South Charleroi Airport (‘BSCA’) to Ryanair constituted illegal State aid. The CFI found, in (...)

On 17 December 2008, the Commission adopted a temporary Framework for State aid measures to support access to finance in the current financial and economic crisis. The Framework forms part of the European Economic Recovery Plan announced on 26th November and it introduces a number of temporary (...)

On 17 November 2008, the Commission published the autumn update of its State aid Scoreboard. The update indicates that the objective of better targeted aid is well on track given that 80% of the total amount of aid is nowadays granted to horizontal objectives, compared to 50% in the middle of (...)

On 4 November 2008, the Commission published for consultation a draft of a revised Communication on the application of State aid rules to public service broadcasting. The draft updates the existing Communication, adopted in 2001, in order to better accommodate recent market and legal (...)

According to a yet unpublished document that was presented to Member States by the French Presidency at the end of November, the Commission is preparing new criteria for assessing State aid in energy-intensive sectors such as chemicals and aluminium production. The intended measures are to be (...)

On 22 September 2008, the Commission launched a public consultation on a draft Notice on enforcement of State aid by national courts. The Notice is intended to assist national courts in applying the EC State aid rules and to give guidance to potential claimants in relation to State aid (...)

In a judgment of 11 September 2008, the European Court of Justice (hereinafter the ‘ECJ’) clarified the criteria for determining whether tax measures adopted by a regional authority are to be considered as selective and thus amounting to State aid. This judgment relates to a tax measure adopted (...)

On 7 July 2008, the Commission adopted the General Block Exemption Regulation (hereinafter ‘the GBER’) for State aid, which aims at simplifying the rules applying to those aid measures that can be considered to fulfil the conditions of compatibility outlined in Article 87(3) EC. The new GBER (...)

On 1 July 2008, the Court of First Instance (hereinafter ‘the CFI’) annulled the Commission decision which had found that certain measures of the German authorities in favour of Deutsche Post amounted to State aid incompatible with the common market. The CFI held, in particular, that the (...)

On 1 July 2008, the European Court of Justice (hereinafter ‘the ECJ’) annulled a judgment of the Court of First Instance (hereinafter ‘the CFI’) which annulled a 1997 Commission decision in so far as the Commission had found that the logistical and commercial assistance provided by the French Post (...)

On 25 June 2008, the Court of First Instance (hereinafter the “CFI”) annulled in part the Commission decision declaring certain aid granted to a Greek airline as compensation for losses resulting from the events of 11 September 2001 incompatible with the common market. The CFI held, in (...)

On 21 May 2008, the Commission published the spring update of its State aid Scoreboard (hereinafter the ‘Scoreboard’). The Scoreboard shows, in particular, that Member States’ use of State aid for environmental purposes is increasing. Although the number of environmental measures has remained (...)

On 20 May 2008, the Commission adopted a new Notice on State aid in the form of guarantees (hereinafter ‘the Notice’). The Notice sets out the criteria and methodology to be applied in order to evaluate whether a guarantee contains a State aid element. In addition, the Notice provides simplified (...)

On 15 April 2008, the Court of First Instance (hereinafter the “CFI”) annulled a Commission decision which had found State aid granted to a French book exporter compatible with the common market. The CFI ruled that the Commission had, firstly, erred in law by applying new Treaty rules (...)

On 28 February 2008, the Commission published a third draft of its proposed general block exemption regulation for State aid (“the Draft Regulation”). The first draft was published for consultation in April 2007 and the second round of consultations was held in autumn 2007. The Draft Regulation (...)

The Commission has published for consultation a second draft of a revised Commission Notice on the application of Article 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid in the form of guarantees. The draft updates the existing Commission Notice issued in 2000 and provides more detailed guidance on the (...)

On 14 February 2008, the European Court of Justice (the ECJ) ruled that Greece had failed to comply with a Commission State aid decision issued in 2005 by not taking necessary measures to recover illegal aid granted to Olympic Airways Services and Olympic Airlines. The public financial (...)

On 12 February 2008, the European Court of Justice (the ECJ) ruled that a Member State is not required to recover aid that has initially been found unlawful as a result of a failure to notify the aid package to the Commission when this aid has subsequently been declared compatible with the (...)

On 10 January 2008, the Commission launched a public consultation on the possible revision of the existing Commission Communication on the application of State aid rules to public service broadcasting. The current Communication was adopted in 2001 and its revision was foreseen in the State Aid (...)

The new Regulation 1535/2007 on de minimis aid in the sector of agricultural production entered into force on 1 January 2008, and repeals Regulation 1860/2004. The new Regulation raises the de minimis ceilings in the agriculture sector so that aid not exceeding € 7,500 per beneficiary over any (...)