The ‘start of works’ criterion as an obstacle to the fulfilment of the formal incentive effect and use of the GBER, has received little attention in academic writing. At the same time, it has created a lot of headaches on the ground - for both practitioners and national authorities. The bar for works to start is traditionally considered rather low, particularly after Eesti Pagar. Surprisingly, a new judgment about something else entirely may cautiously blow the winds in a new direction, including for the formal incentive effect criterion.