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Eesti Pagar: A Formalistic Approach to Incentive Effect and Recovery Procedures journal article

Caroline Buts, Péter Staviczky

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 20 (2021), Issue 4, Page 546 - 559

Eesti Pagar constitutes a milestone in State aid law. This article provides an overview of the judgment and discusses, in chronological order, the topics of the five questions dealt with by the Court. First, we review the importance of the criterium incentive effect and more specifically the timing of the aid application in relation to the start of the project. Second, we analyse the obligation of a national authority to recover unlawful aid, also in the absence of a Commission decision. Third, we investigate whether actions by national authorities (in breach of EU law) can cause legitimate expectations for an aid beneficiary. Fourth, regarding recovery procedures without a Commission decision, we reflect on the pertinent limitation period. Finally, we examine the applicable recovery interest rate. Keywords: incentive effect; complaints; recovery; (recovery) interest rate/reference rate; limitation period, GBER, illegal aid, obligation of national granting entities Milestones Preview: this article is based on a chapter of the upcoming second edition of the book 'Milestones in State Aid Case Law' (Lexxion 2022).



Economic Continuity in a State Aid Recovery Case · Case T-121/15 Fortischem · Annotation by Sami Hartikainen journal article

Annotation on the Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 24 September 2019 in Case T-121/15 Fortischem v Commission

Sami Hartikainen

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 19 (2020), Issue 3, Page 359 - 364

Economic continuity is not a new topic in State aid recovery cases. However, a final satisfactory solution has yet to be established. The significance of the purchase price in asset deals especially remains unclear. The General Court’s judgment would seem to suggest that the question of as to whether an asset deal is made as ‘a going concern’ might be a more decisive factor than the price. While the case remains under appeal before the Court of Justice, taking a closer look at the details of the case is already warranted.


Nürburgring: Limited Scope to Challenge the Competitive Purchase of Assets That Have Received Aid · Cases T-353/15 NeXovation/European Commission and T-373/15 Ja zum Nürburgring/European Commission · Annotation by Irene Moreno-Tapia Rivas and Victoria Riv journal article

Annotation on the Judgments of the General Court (First Chamber, Extended Composition) of 19 June 2019 in Cases T-353/15 NeXovation/ European Commission and T-373/15 Ja zum Nürburgring/European Commission

Irene Moreno-Tapia, Victoria Rivas Santiago

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 19 (2020), Issue 2, Page 220 - 224

Almost a century after the construction of the German racing circuit Nürburgring, economic problems obliged the Land of Rhineland-Palatinate to finance a luxury complex around the race track with the purpose to save the park in economics terms. However, after having received a complaint, the European Commission started an investigation procedure which ended with a Decision on the State aid implemented by Germany for Nürburgring. In the meantime, the Nürburgring assets were sold through a tender process managed by the German Government under the rules agreed with the European Commission and the administrators of the assets. The Commission Decision determined that the measures in favour of the owners of Nürburgring were unlawful and incompatible with the European market rules; in addition, the European Commission decided, first, that any potential recovery of the aid would not concern the buyer of the assets; and, second, that the sale of the assets in the framework of an open, transparent and non-discriminatory tender process did not constitute State aid. The General Court upheld the Decision. Both judgments, T-353/15 and T-373/15 are currently appealed by both complainants before the Court of Justice.




Recovery of Unlawful Aid in Case of Insolvency journal article

Stefania Bello, Germano Guglielmi

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 19 (2020), Issue 4, Page 440 - 451

The provisions on State aid laid down by the TFEU aim at preventing that public intervention in the economy could affect trade and distort competition to an extent contrary to the common interest. To this end, the Commission may order Member States to recover State aid granted in breach of EU law. This article focuses in particular on the specific case of aid recovery from insolvent beneficiaries. The Commission has always taken a very rigorous approach on this matter, requiring the winding-up of the beneficiary and the exit from the market where it is not able to reimburse the total amount of the recovery, regardless of the circumstances of the case. The Recovery Notice adopted in 2019 confirmed the rigid position taken by the Commission towards insolvent beneficiaries. The main purposes of this article are, firstly, to assess the approach adopted by the Commission and, secondly, to investigate the existence of the possibility for the Member State to behave as a private creditor in recovering the unlawful aid, or to suspend the recovery procedure in order to examine a plan to relaunch the activities of the insolvent beneficiary. Keywords: Recovery Notice; unlawful aid; State aid recovery; insolvent beneficiaries


A New Boost to National Recovery? · Case C‑349/17 Eesti Pagar · Annotation by Svein Terje Tveit journal article

Annotation on the Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 5 March 2019 in Case C‑349/17 Eesti Pagar AS v Ettevõtluse Arendamise Sihtasutus, Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium.

Svein Terje Tveit

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 18 (2019), Issue 2, Page 186 - 191

On 5 March 2019, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJ) issued an important ruling clarifying the scope of the national authorities’ obligation to recover unlawful State aid and the test for ‘incentive effect’ — a requirement for an aid measure to benefit from the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). The CJ confirms that national authorities must recover unlawful State aid also in cases where the aid is granted (wrongfully) under the GBER as regional investment aid and the Commission has not adopted any Decision. The aid beneficiary may not rely on the principle of protection of legitimate expectations even if the granting authority had recommended the aid beneficiary to apply for aid knowing that work on the project had begun before the aid application was submitted. In cases where the EU rules on limitation period and interests are not directly applicable, national rules apply, so that the national authorities must seek full recovery of the unlawful aid and thereby ensure the effectiveness of State aid rules. Keywords: GBER; Recovery; National enforcement; Unlawful aid; National legal basis.


The Commission’s New Recovery Notice journal article

A Handbook for the Recovery of Unlawful and Incompatible Aid

Simone Donzelli

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 18 (2019), Issue 4, Page 528 - 539

In July 2019, following a public consultation, the European Commission adopted a new notice on the recovery of unlawful and incompatible aid, replacing the previous 2007 Notice. The new Recovery Notice represents the state of the art of the existing legislation and Case law about recovery policy. This article introduces the key topics of the Recovery Notice, from the general principles to infringement proceedings, passing through some crucial issues such as the identification of the beneficiaries, the quantification of the aid and recovery in the context of insolvency proceedings. Selected comments from the public consultation are also presented, analysed and discussed. The article, in line with the Recovery Notice, stresses the central role of cooperation between the Commission and the Member States to implement recovery Decisions and concludes that the Recovery Notice is a comprehensive tool to enforce State aid rules in line with the current regulatory framework and Case law of the Union Courts. Keywords: Recovery; Unlawful aid; Incompatible aid; Infringement; Insolvency.


The Individual Identification of Beneficiaries of State Aid and the Financing Mechanism · Case C-505/18 Copebi SCA v Établissement national des produits de l’agriculture et de la mer · Annotation by Federica Maldari journal article

Annotation on the Judgment of the Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber) of 13 June 2019 in Case C-505/18 Copebi SCA v Établissement national des produits de l’agriculture et de la mer.

Federica Maldari

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 18 (2019), Issue 4, Page 567 - 570

The Case deals with a legal dispute concerning the recovery of unlawful State aid in the fruit and vegetable sector under a Decision of the European Commission (EC), between Copebi SCA, one of the beneficiaries of the involved funds, and the French Republic. The dispute concerns the scope of the Decision of the EC, in so far as Copebi considered that the funds used were not covered by the Decision, which did not specifically mention the economic committee which paid them to Copebi. The beneficiary also argued the measure could not be covered by the Decision, since the financing mechanism of the funds was different from that described in it. The issues were referred to the Court of Justice (CJ) for a preliminary ruling, which concluded that the Decision must be interpreted as covering the funds paid to Copebi despite the fact that it didn’t mention the grantor of funds nor exact financing mechanism. Keywords: Recovery order; Contingency plans; Scope of Decision; Identification; Financing mechanism.