Juan Jorge Piernas López

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 16 (2017), Issue 1, Page 108 - 110

Juan Jorge Piernas López

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 15 (2016), Issue 1, Page 115 - 120

This note analyses the General Court judgment of September 2014 (Third Chamber) in case T-461/12 Hansestadt Lübeck v European Commission. The note discusses firstly the background and main arguments of the judgment under review. Secondly, it includes a brief commentary of the main legal issues addressed by the General Court and, finally, it provides a few final remarks concerning the notion of selectivity within the Treaty architecture. Keywords: Notion of Aid; Selectivity; Reference Framework; Regulation; Airport fees.

Juan Jorge Piernas López

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 15 (2016), Issue 3, Page 400 - 415

This article is concerned with the legal concept of State aid under Article 107(1) TFEU.The article argues that the concept of aid is a ‘living instrument’ that has been applied in accordance with the main policy priorities of the European Commission. The article also contends that the evolution of this concept has been influenced by the broader advancement of the case-law of the Court of Justice in different periods of the integration process. Thirdly, the article submits that the study of the origins of subsidy control in Europe, of the legislative history of today’s Article 107(1) TFEU, and of the policy and enforcement considerations that have affected the development of the concept of aid is not only enriching from an intellectual point of view but also useful to decide difficult cases. Keywords: Notion of Aid; Article 107(1) TFEU; Evolution; Policy; History; Case Law.