Gaetano Maria Giovanni Reale

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 23 (2024), Issue 1, Page 15 - 21

The Italian State aid register is a central and unique database for all aid granted by national authorities. It is a powerful tool that allows the public to track in real-time the aid granted by different authorities to various beneficiaries on a legal basis. Competitors can use the register data to verify if their rivals have been granted aid, the number of aids received and if these aids have been granted legally. This makes the register a valuable resource for legal actions. The register data can also be used for policy analysis and to help improve policy design. Some research institutes have already started to utilise the data provided by the register for these purposes. This article looks at Italy's experience in implementing a State aid register, to serve as a guide for other Member States. Keywords: Italy; Transparency; National State Aid Register; GBER

Joris Gruyters, Lennard Michaux

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 20 (2021), Issue 2, Page 292 - 297

On 17 December 2020, the Court of Justice brought an end to the Inpost saga, following the compatibility assessment by the Commission – and the subsequent appeal before the General Court – of an aid scheme for universal service obligations in the postal sector. Together, these decisions and judgments provide the opportunity to reflect on three more general issues of State aid law. First, the acceptable calculation method of ‘an unfair financial burden’ should be highlighted, a key notion in the Postal Services Directive. Second, the rules of interaction between non-State aid provisions of EU law and the aid analysis will be revisited. Third, and finally, the connection between the transparency requirements of the SGEI Framework and the public service inquiry has to be clarified.

Marijana Liszt

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 20 (2021), Issue 4, Page 586 - 589

Roberto Caranta, Benedetta Biancardi

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 19 (2020), Issue 2, Page 185 - 192

In a case concerning a direct award of passenger railways services to the old State owned monopolist, the Court of Justice opts for a literal interpretation of Regulation (EC) 1370/2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road limiting transparency and competition in the choice of the service provider.

Katrine Lillerud

European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 18 (2019), Issue 3, Page 239 - 248

National registers on individual aid grants above €500 000 became mandatory from 1 July 2016. The European Commission hopes the registers will promote compliance, raise awareness on aid granted and function as a disciplinary measure. They count on the registers to ensure better control at the national level, by incentivising beneficiaries to comply and by providing enough information for competitors to check whether aid was lawfully granted. This article provides a case study of how the national registers function in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The three European Economic Area States are an interesting case study as they are the only countries that have opted for their own national transparency registers, whilst the EU Member States all use the Commission’s portal. The findings show that the transparency registers currently do not provide the information required for competitors to assess the compatibility of an aid measure with the internal market. Almost all the published aid measures lack a link to the national legal basis or the granting authorities’ decision on the individual aid measure. These shortcomings are easily corrected. However, if left unattended, they arguably render block exempted aid unlawful. Currently, the effect of the national registers appears to be that they induce competitors to apply for aid rather than litigate on it. Keywords: Ex post evaluation; Block exemptions; National transparency registers; Individual aid; Privatization of State aid enforcement; Transparency communication