Marijana Liszt

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 22 (2023), Issue 2, Page 199 - 204

This case note concerns one of many European Commission decisions approving State aid as damage compensation to airlines due to extraordinary occurrences (COVID-19 outbreak), on the basis of Article 107(2)(b) TFEU, considered to be an ‘automatic exemption’, meaning that the discretionary powers of the Commission are confined to verifying the fulfilment of the required conditions. This Commission decision has been challenged by the tireless Ryanair DAC, which has been challenging many State aid measures granted to airlines by the Member states simultaneously, on the basis of Article 107(2)(b) TFEU as well as other applicable grounds (Article 107(3)(b); the COVID-19 Temporary Framework). This judgment has been chosen as it refers to Croatia Airlines, the Croatian national air carrier, presenting the first ever General Court decision referring to State aid granted to a Croatian undertaking by the Republic of Croatia. The case raises several peculiar legal questions concerning the notions of discrimination and the difference in treatment. It is also worth mentioning the Court’s argument regarding Croatia Airlines’ essential role in Croatia’s air transport connectivity.

Marijana Liszt, Petra Kontić

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 20 (2021), Issue 1, Page 160 - 164

Marijana Liszt

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 20 (2021), Issue 1, Page 178 - 179

Marijana Liszt

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 20 (2021), Issue 4, Page 586 - 589

Marijana Liszt

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 18 (2019), Issue 2, Page 203 - 206

Marijana Liszt, Vlatka Butorac Malnar

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 15 (2016), Issue 4, Page 622 - 636

This paper aims to introduce and analyse the regulatory framework of SGEI in the youngest EU Member State - the Republic of Croatia – and thereby contribute to the existing debate on the topic. The paper addresses the Croatian regulatory and policy choices relating to a number of SGEIs from the perspective of State aid law, whereby all publicly available national decisions were analysed against the criteria of the latest EU SGEI Package. The research reveals a lack of clear terminology pointing to a far more complicated issue: conceptual inconsistencies of the legal vocabulary often used interchangeably by the decision-making bodies. This makes it very hard to reconcile the EU notion of SGEI as a universal notion with local national concepts of public services mostly determined by the socialistic heritage of the country on the one hand, and legal tradition regarding matters of public administration on the other. The paper points out the inefficiencies of what is revealed to be a fragmented approach to the topic of public services and their financing, and it also forwards the idea of an all-encompassing legislative reform. Keywords: Services of General Economic Interest; Public Services; Compatible aid; Croatia.