Michael Honoré, Anne Louise Jespersen

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 17 (2018), Issue 3, Page 428 - 430

Francesco Maria Salerno, Federico Macchi

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 17 (2018), Issue 2, Page 311 - 315

The case in comment illustrates the application of State aid rules by a national court. Moreover, the case deserves to be brought to the attention of a wide readership because it concerns a rare case of award for damages to the beneficiary of the aid. By adjudicating in favour of the beneficiary, the Italian court recognized the peculiarities of the case at issue. At the same time, the ruling raises general questions of consistency with EU law, which are likely to become even more salient as the cooperation between Commission and national courts in the enforcement of State aid rules increases. Keywords: National courts; Damages; State liability; Legitimate expectations.

Nicole Coutrelis, Thomas Gourdeau

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 16 (2017), Issue 4, Page 639 - 641

Nuria Arenas

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 16 (2017), Issue 4, Page 641 - 642

Joanna Goyder, Margot Dons

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 16 (2017), Issue 3, Page 418 - 430

Damages claims based on State aid law infringements may be brought in a number of situations. There is an EU law cause of action, and sometimes also a national law basis, for claims by competitors of the aid recipient, or by third parties, against the Member State or other body which granted the aid. Competitors may also claim damages from the beneficiary, but such claims can only be brought if national law provides a cause of action. Finally, the recipient itself may claim damages from the granting Member State or other body, but an EU law cause of action will normally not be available, so such a claim will also generally have to be based on national law. All these types of damages claim are rare in practice, and even more rarely successful. The main reason for this appears to be the difficulty for claimants to prove causation and to quantify their loss. Keywords: Damages Claims; Infringements; Enforcement Notice; National Courts.