‘Prior in Tempore, Potior in Jure’ Does Not Exclude State Aid to Users of Infrastructure · Case T-108/16 Naviera Armas · Annotation Marianne Clayton, Egill Olafsson and Maria Segura journal article Annotation on the Judgment of the General Court of 15 March 2018 in Case T-108/16 Naviera Armas SA Marianne Clayton, Egill Olafsson, Maria Segura European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 17 (2018), Issue 2, Page 282 - 289 On 15 March 2018, the General Court annulled a Commission Decision which considered that the Spanish authorities had not granted state aid in favour of Fred Olsen through some measures relating to the port of Puerto de Las Nieves in the Canary Islands. A competitor, who had complained to the Commission about the said measures, applied for annulment of the Commission’s Decision on the grounds that the Commission should have opened the formal investigation procedure resulting from the fact that it had encountered serious difficulties. Even though the Decision had been appealed on the grounds of procedure, by its nature, the Court had to go into the substance of the case. The line between procedure and substance can be a fine one. Keywords: Opening Formal Investigation; Serious Difficulties; Use of State-Owned Infrastructure.
Judgment By Formula: Regulatory Form and the Differentiation of Fiscal Measures and Non-Fiscal Measures in EU State Aid Law Christopher McMahon