Aleksander Maziarz

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 20 (2021), Issue 2, Page 240 - 248

The aim of the article is to analyse conditions of application of EU State aid rules to social security schemes. First, the article will focus on conditions that classify activity of social security schemes as non-economic activity. Moreover, conditions determining that a scheme is based on the principle of solidarity will be analysed. Thirdly, the article will analyse how to classify a scheme when its activity is both based on the principle of solidarity and also has economic nature. The last part of the article will analyse the most recent case concerning State aid in the context of social security schemes - Dôvera zdravotná poistʼovňa v Commission. Keywords: social security schemes; economic activity; solidarity principle.

Lena Sandberg, Pilar Pérez-D’Ocon

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 20 (2021), Issue 1, Page 101 - 107

Bohumil Šmucr

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 18 (2019), Issue 4, Page 545 - 548

The definition of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) is a very topical issue. A public consultation opened from 6 February to 6 May 2018 provided a possibility for revision of its text. This article brings practical experience from use of the SME definition in the real world as a contribution to the debate. The main purpose is to open a discussion about simplification of this instrument to be user friendly for its target group – small and medium enterprises. Keywords: SME; Economic activity; Natural person; Adjacent market; Single economic unit

Jakub Kociubiński

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 18 (2019), Issue 3, Page 366 - 371

The Case T-747/17 Union des Ports de France (UPF), an annulment action brought against the European Commission (EC, the Commission) Decision declaring the tax exemption in favour of French ports constitutes a State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU, deserves attention primarily for the Court’s view of the differentiation between beneficiaries’ economic and non-economic activities according to which there is no threshold of non-economic activities carried out by one entity required to categorize it as entirely non-economic. The Case also involves distinguishing between individual aid and aid scheme; an assessment of the effect on competition and trade between Member States and the application of principles of proportionality and sound administration. The admissibility hinges on whether the EC Decision addressed to France could be of ‘direct and individual’ concern to a professional association – UPF. Keywords: Taxation, Economic Activity, Non-Economic Activity, State Prerogatives

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 18 (2019), Issue 3, Page 313 - 338

Rass Holdgaard, Grith Skovgaard Ølykke, Rasmus Grønved Nielsen

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 18 (2019), Issue 3, Page 274 - 292

The introduction of a more economic approach in State aid control should be viewed as a healthy development. However, before subjecting public spending to the constraints of thorough economic analysis it is necessary to ask whether State aid control is requisite and meaningful at all. A corner stone of this assessment is to determine the dividing line between exercise of public authority and economic activities. In this paper, we raise concerns about the Commission’s recent approach to distinguishing between exercise of public authority and economic activity in the context of general transport infrastructure. The Commission’s approach and notably its new focus on the concept of ‘commercial exploitation’ may overstretch existing Case law and thus the notion of aid. It is concluded that the Commission should return to a more nuanced and specific assessment of each activity when it draws this important line. Keywords: Concept of undertaking; Public authority; Economic activity; General transport infrastructure

Phedon Nicolaides

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 16 (2017), Issue 4, Page 527 - 536

The boundaries of the concept of economic activity are constantly shifting. This paper examines the case of schools run by the church and funded by the State. The Court of Justice concluded that wholly State-funded education is not economic in nature. The paper criticises this approach of the Court. The source of funding should not have been the decisive criterion, for the simple reason that State aid to enterprises is also provided by the State. The decisive criterion should have been whether the purpose of the funding was to support an activity which was intended to be offered for remuneration. Keywords: Economic Activity; State Resources; Public Education.