Ulrich Soltész

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 23 (2024), Issue 1, Page 35 - 39

The "incentive effect" is a rather technical issue under the State aid rules which is of huge practical importance. In a nutshell, this principle states that aid cannot be granted if the recipient had already started with the project before the application for aid was submitted. As this can lead to the complete refusal of funding, and because the recent case law - in particular the Eesti Pagar judgment (C-349/17) - is extremely harsh in defining the “start of works”, the “incentive effect” requirement has the potential to cause sleepless nights for aid recipients. Unfortunately, the most recent judgment in Est Wind Power (C-11/22) has not helped matters, but instead added to the confusion. Keywords: Incentive Effect; Aid Application; Start of Works; Early Project Start; Investment Aid

Ulrich Soltész

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 22 (2023), Issue 2, Page 175 - 180

Ulrich Soltész

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 12 (2013), Issue 4, Page 643 - 645

I. Introduction In his recent opinion1 Advocate General Mengozzi addressed an issue which is of pivotal importance for many aid recipients, namely the question whether a decision to open a formal investigation (Article 108(2) TFEU, Article 6(1) of Reg. 659/1999) can have legally binding effect on national courts. Under Article 267 TFEU a German Court had asked the question whether an “uncontested decision of the Commission to initiate a formal investi

Ulrich Soltész

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 5 (2006), Issue 4, Page 9

State aid in the aviation sector has various purposes and can be granted in a multitude of ways. On the one hand, public subsidies for the construction and enlargement of airports often serve to improve the traffic infrastructure, in particular in the regional sector. On the other hand, individual airlines receive subsidies. Start-up financing or a reduction in landing fees and charges are intended to encourage the subsidised airlines to serve certain regi