The EU Court of Justice clarifies that prices fixed by the State do not necessarily constitute State aid (Eco TLC)

Attribution to the State does not necessarily Imply Control by the State* Prices fixed by the state do not necessarily confer control to the state over the private resources which are used to pay those prices. Introduction Judging from how many times EU courts have been asked to interpret the concept of state resources, it seems that one of the most difficult aspects of Article 107(1) TFEU is to determine whether funding that does not come from the budget of a public authority constitutes State aid. The means by which the state can exercise control over private resources can be very subtle. The Court of Justice had to decide in its judgment of 21 October 2020, in case C‑556/19, Eco TLC v Ministre d’État and others, whether fixing of prices by the state resulted in control by state