Tamás Kende, Gábor Puskás

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 22 (2023), Issue 2, Page 205 - 211

Article 107(3)(c) TFEU requires a delicate balancing of the positive effects of the aid aiming the development of certain economic activities and the negative effects thereof. The Paks II judgment provides clarifications as to the limits of this balancing process and the European Commission’s obligations to take into account primary and secondary EU laws other than those related to State aid, as well as fundamental goals of the EU Treaties like the protection of environment. The Paks II judgment also confirms that State aid rules are also applicable concerning activities falling under the EURATOM Treaty and clarifies the relationship between State aid and public procurement and an infringement procedure and a State aid procedure. The Paks II judgment also shows that Member States have a hard time with challenging the Commission’s State aid decisions if they rely on an alleged err in law or they attack the Commission’s discretionary powers and the proper application thereof.

Ilkka Aalto-Setälä, Henrik J. Koivuniemi

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 21 (2022), Issue 4, Page 449 - 452

The Finnish State aid saga in the bus transport sector has become to a provisional end, as the General Court found in Cases T-597/19 and T-603/19 that certain measures taken by the City of Helsinki constituted unlawful State aid. The judgement showcases various interesting aspects of State aid law, particularly procedural rights of interested parties in the context of economic continuity. This annotation introduces the procedural matters at issue in Case T-603/19 and walks through the Court’s reasoning.