– State aid – Judicial Competition Training

20 October, 2021

Judgement of the Court (First Chamber) of October 6th, 2021 Scandlines Danmark Aps. and Scandlines Deutschland Gmbh V. Commission, in Joined Cases C 174/19 P And C 175/19 P. Article 107(1) TFEU does not distinguish between the causes or the objectives of State aid, but defines them in relation to their effects. The fact that a Member State assigns a public service subject to a legal monopoly to a public undertaking does not, in certain circumstances, entail a distortion of competition. An advantage granted to the operator of an infrastructure subject to a legal monopoly cannot, in such circumstances, distort competition. It is necessary, for such a distortion to be able to be excluded in such circumstances, that the legal monopoly not only excludes competition ‘on’ the market, but also ‘for’ the market, in that it excludes any possible competition to become the exclusive provider of the service in question. For the purpose of assessing the effect on competition of the measures granted to a company there is need to take account of the activities of which that undertaking is itself specifically and actually in charge. (CRM).

The case concerns the financing of the project for the Fehmarn Belt link between Denmark and Germany. The project, signed between Denmark and Germany, consists on […]

27 September, 2021

NATIONAL COURTS NEED TO BE CAREFUL! DE MINIMIS STATE AIDS SHOULD NOT BE UNLAWFUL.Chair Justice Dr. David Ordóñez Solís. Magistrado, miembro de la Red de Especialistas en Derecho de la Unión Europea y secretario ejecutivo de la Comisión Iberoamericana de Ética Judicial

De minimis rule as applied to State Aid in European Union Law has evolved from the concept of incompatibility of aids with the common market, the […]

27 September, 2021

Judgement of the Court of Justice (Fourth Chamber)of September 02, 2021 Ja zum Nürburgring v Commission, in the Case C-647/19 P (ECLI:EU:C:2021:666). State aid. Interested party. The status of interested party doesn’t presuppose the existence of a competitive relationship.(JIRP)

The Nürburgring complex (‘the Nürburgring’), located in the Land of Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany), consists of a motor-car race track (‘the Nürburgring race track’), a leisure park, hotels […]

20 September, 2021

Judgement of the Court of Justice (Fourth Chamber) of September 16, 2021 Commission v Belgium and Magnetrol International, in the Case C-337/19 P (ECLI:EU:C:2021:741). Concepts of “aid scheme”, “act”, “further implementing measures”, “General and abstract” definition of beneficiaries and “Systematic approach”. Fiscal autonomy of the Member States. The term “Act” in Article 1(d) of Regulation 2015/1589 includes a systematic contra legem application by the tax authorities of that Member State. To decide about the need or not of “further implementing measures” it must be determined whether the grant of individual aid is conditional on the adoption of such measures or whether, on the contrary, that grant may be made on the basis of that act alone. The contra legem practice of the tax authorities, in the case, to grant to the beneficiary the excess profit exemption was granted without there being any need to adopt further implementing measures. (JIRP)

CONTEXT: By its appeal, the European Commission asks the Court of Justice to set aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of […]

20 October, 2021

Judgement of the Court (First Chamber) of October 6th, 2021 Scandlines Danmark Aps. and Scandlines Deutschland Gmbh V. Commission, in Joined Cases C 174/19 P And C 175/19 P. Article 107(1) TFEU does not distinguish between the causes or the objectives of State aid, but defines them in relation to their effects. The fact that a Member State assigns a public service subject to a legal monopoly to a public undertaking does not, in certain circumstances, entail a distortion of competition. An advantage granted to the operator of an infrastructure subject to a legal monopoly cannot, in such circumstances, distort competition. It is necessary, for such a distortion to be able to be excluded in such circumstances, that the legal monopoly not only excludes competition ‘on’ the market, but also ‘for’ the market, in that it excludes any possible competition to become the exclusive provider of the service in question. For the purpose of assessing the effect on competition of the measures granted to a company there is need to take account of the activities of which that undertaking is itself specifically and actually in charge. (CRM).

The case concerns the financing of the project for the Fehmarn Belt link between Denmark and Germany. The project, signed between Denmark and Germany, consists on […]

27 September, 2021

NATIONAL COURTS NEED TO BE CAREFUL! DE MINIMIS STATE AIDS SHOULD NOT BE UNLAWFUL.Chair Justice Dr. David Ordóñez Solís. Magistrado, miembro de la Red de Especialistas en Derecho de la Unión Europea y secretario ejecutivo de la Comisión Iberoamericana de Ética Judicial

De minimis rule as applied to State Aid in European Union Law has evolved from the concept of incompatibility of aids with the common market, the […]

27 September, 2021

Judgement of the Court of Justice (Fourth Chamber)of September 02, 2021 Ja zum Nürburgring v Commission, in the Case C-647/19 P (ECLI:EU:C:2021:666). State aid. Interested party. The status of interested party doesn’t presuppose the existence of a competitive relationship.(JIRP)

20 September, 2021

Judgement of the Court of Justice (Fourth Chamber) of September 16, 2021 Commission v Belgium and Magnetrol International, in the Case C-337/19 P (ECLI:EU:C:2021:741). Concepts of “aid scheme”, “act”, “further implementing measures”, “General and abstract” definition of beneficiaries and “Systematic approach”. Fiscal autonomy of the Member States. The term “Act” in Article 1(d) of Regulation 2015/1589 includes a systematic contra legem application by the tax authorities of that Member State. To decide about the need or not of “further implementing measures” it must be determined whether the grant of individual aid is conditional on the adoption of such measures or whether, on the contrary, that grant may be made on the basis of that act alone. The contra legem practice of the tax authorities, in the case, to grant to the beneficiary the excess profit exemption was granted without there being any need to adopt further implementing measures. (JIRP)

CONTEXT: By its appeal, the European Commission asks the Court of Justice to set aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of […]