More than two years after the Commission set out the State Aid Modernisation (SAM) package, still no considerable progress has been achieved in terms of increasing the efficiency of EU State aid law enforcement at the national level in spite of severe deficiencies. Attention must therefore be given to the question of how to enhance the Member States’ compliance with EU State aid rules. This article proposes criminal liability as an efficient tool of EU State aid law enforcement. First, current deficiencies of EU State aid law enforcement are illustrated. Second, it is examined whether the granting of unlawful State aid potentially fulfils the elements of a crime, namely the crime of embezzlement of public funds, exemplified by German criminal law. Finally, some proposals for further improvements concerning the practical implementation of the criminal law approach are presented.
Keywords: Criminal liability, Embezzlement, Enforcement, GBER, Procedure before the Commission, SAM.