Austria ·Birgit Haslinger and Julia Schiestl Journal Artikel Birgit Haslinger, Julia Schiestl European State Aid Law Quarterly, Jahrgang 20 (2021), Ausgabe 1, Seite 154 - 158
The 2020 Autumn Conference of the European State Aid Law Institute Journal Artikel Report on the EStALI Online Conference on State Aid Law, Organised on 24 November 2020 Wout De Cock European State Aid Law Quarterly, Jahrgang 20 (2021), Ausgabe 1, Seite 180 - 183
Belgium ·Wout De Cock and Tom Bonne Journal Artikel Wout De Cock, Tom Bonne European State Aid Law Quarterly, Jahrgang 20 (2021), Ausgabe 1, Seite 158 - 160
Let Down by the Facts: The General Court Annuls the European Commission Decision on Irish Tax Arrangement for Apple · Joined Cases T-778/16 and T-892/16 Ireland and Others v European Commission · Annotation by Veronika Korom Journal Artikel Annotation on the Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber, Extended Composition) of 15 July 2020 in Joined Cases T-778/16 and T-892/16 Ireland and Others v European Commission Veronika E. Korom European State Aid Law Quarterly, Jahrgang 20 (2021), Ausgabe 2, Seite 277 - 283 The General Court's decision in Apple’s Irish tax case confirmed that the European Commission is competent to review national tax rulings for whether they confer a selective advantage on a tax payer. Further, the GCEU validated the legal tests on which the Commission relied in reaching its State aid decision. However, the GCEU found that the Commission had failed in its assessment of the specific facts of this case and in particular failed to show the existence of a selective advantage. It therefore annulled the Commission’s decision. Given that the GCEU ruled in favour of the Commission on virtually all points of law but censured the Commission on questions of fact, the Commission’s appeal to the CJEU is likely to face significant challenges on both admissibility and substance.
EEA and EFTA States ·Marianne Clayton and Maria Segura Journal Artikel Marianne Clayton, Maria Segura European State Aid Law Quarterly, Jahrgang 20 (2021), Ausgabe 2, Seite 301 - 303
Germany ·Benjamin Linke Journal Artikel Benjamin Linke European State Aid Law Quarterly, Jahrgang 20 (2021), Ausgabe 3, Seite 442 - 444
Digital Service Taxes under State Aid Scrutiny Journal Artikel Federico Fichera European State Aid Law Quarterly, Jahrgang 20 (2021), Ausgabe 4, Seite 479 - 491 Digital companies, on which contemporary economies are largely based, rely heavily on intangible assets and data processing. They are also able to carry out their activity without a physical presence in the market, which creates a separation between the country where these companies make their profits and the country in which those profits are taxed. It has thus become important to develop an efficient strategy to tax these operators. In 2018, the European Union made an attempt to do so and the Commission introduced a proposal for a directive on the introduction of a Digital Service Tax (DST). Due to lack of the required unanimity in Council, such a proposal was not adopted. In the meantime, however, some Member States have introduced their own national DSTs, clearly inspired by the Commission's proposal. This paper investigates whether such fiscal measures constitute State aid and, in light of recent case-law, it concludes that this is probably not the case. However, in consideration of the peculiarities of such taxes, it is argued that they might still be found to trigger Article 107(1) TFEU in accordance with said jurisprudence. From a broader perspective, it is also argued that the approach used by the CJEU when ruling on fiscal aid should be less formalistic and should give more consideration to the potential effect that these could have on competition within the Internal Market. Keywords: Digital Service Tax; digital taxation; Fiscal State aid; GAFA; selectivity.
Andres: The Unfinished Business of a Seemingly Selective Non-Advantage· Case C-203/16 P Dirk Andres v European Commission · Annotation by Raymond Luja Journal Artikel Annotation on the Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 28 June 2018 in Case C-203/16 P Dirk Andres v European Commission Raymond Luja European State Aid Law Quarterly, Jahrgang 20 (2021), Ausgabe 4, Seite 578 - 584 The Andres judgement has often been seen as a Milestone on selectivity, but in essence it is not. It rather deals with the absence of an advantage. In this contribution the author revisits Andres and concludes that, from a transactional perspective set forth in Sigma Alimentos Exterior, the outcome could well have been different. He also points out that Andres opened up a loophole to the state aid regime that could be exploited by providing targeted relief to over-inclusive anti-abuse measures. He concludes that it is primarily up to national legislators and domestic courts to guard against disproportional tax measures. Milestones Preview: this annotation is based on a chapter of the upcoming second edition of the book 'Milestones in State Aid Case Law' (Lexxion 2022).
Taxation, State Aid Rules and Arbitral Courts: Journal Artikel A BIT of a Mess in the Micula Saga Begoña Pérez Bernabeu European State Aid Law Quarterly, Jahrgang 19 (2020), Ausgabe 3, Seite 329 - 338 In its long-awaited ruling on 18 June 2019, the General Court (GC) annulled the Commission's State aid Decision in the Micula case where the Commission considered that the damages payment by Romania of an ICSID award constituted State aid. In the GC's opinion, the payment of the adverse arbitration award by a Romania does not constitute illegal State aid. Unfortunately, the GC's reasoning is tied to the timing of the measure taken by Romania, which took place before Romania acceded to the EU, and the rest of the compelling substantive pleas were not assessed. Moreover, the GC did not rule on whether the compensation of the withdrawal of the tax incentives for the post-accession period constitutes State aid given that the Commission failed to distinguish between compensation for the period predating accession and post-accession. For this reason, this judgment does not put an end to the Micula saga as long as the Commission has lodged an appeal before the Court of Justice. Keywords: arbitral award, Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), repeal of tax incentives, damages compensation, enforcement
The Swedish Aviation Tax: Journal Artikel Some Initial Comments from a State Aid Perspective Yvette Lind European State Aid Law Quarterly, Jahrgang 19 (2020), Ausgabe 3, Seite 290 - 296 The article concerns the Swedish aviation tax which was introduced in 2018. A tax policy approach is applied to not only consider tax technicalities but also the ideals and goals of the tax from the perspective of the Swedish legislature. Resulting in an inclusion of not only legal aspects but also a consideration of how politics and economics influences the design of such a tax. The author concludes that there are several potential State aid problems with the present design of the tax, eg too low tax rates in order to fulfil its environmental policy objective, an exemption of transit and transfer passengers that distorts the competition between airlines and which is not justified or exempted from State aid rules. Keywords: aviation taxes, fiscal State aid, emission offsetting, carbon offset, polluter pays principle, Sweden
Judgment By Formula: Regulatory Form and the Differentiation of Fiscal Measures and Non-Fiscal Measures in EU State Aid Law Christopher McMahon