- Volume 14 (2015), Issue 1
- Vol. 14 (2015), No. 1
- >
- Pages 88 - 116
- pp. 88 - 116
The Commission’s Decisional Practice on State Aid to Banks: An Update
This article is an update on the evolution of the European Commission’s decisional practice regarding State aid to banks in the financial crisis over the past few years, building on a previous analysis published in 2011. Since 2008, most Member States have provided some support to their banking system, which has allowed the Commission to exert an unprecedented control over the use of taxpayers’ money under State aid rules. In particular, individual restructuring or resolution plans have been used as a tool to foster the reform of the European banking system and anticipate the adoption and implementation of an EU-wide regulatory framework (the 'Banking Union') that was absent at the beginning of the crisis. This article is an overview of how this context has affected the implementation of State aid rules regarding the existence of aid, the compatibility of aid, the implementation of resolution plans, and the monitoring of the Commission decisions.
Keywords : Banking, Financial crisis, Financial Services, EFSM, ESM.