Competition and State Aid

An Analysis of the EC Practice
Erscheinungsjahr 2007
ISBN: 978-90-411-2617-7
Verlag: Wolters Kluwer

Buch, Englisch, 350 Seiten

What are the real issues underlying the Commission’s extensive

application of Article 87 EC in relation to State aid schemes? In this

important new interpretation of the relation of State aid to EU inter-state

competition, nine prominent Italian jurists of Santa Maria law firm (‘Studio

Santa Maria’) present arguments and case studies showing that the

widely-embraced, persistent assessment whereby State aid is expressly linked

to competition law is fundamentally misconceived. Instead, they contend, the

true starting point for such assessment lies in whether the Member state

granting the aid has observed (or failed to observe) any of the fundamental

freedoms. This re-orientation, in the authors’ view – based primarily on

extensive representation of Italian undertakings and trade associations and

even of the Italian Government in State aid cases – both restores the spirit

in which Article 87 EC was intended to operate and promotes the full

accomplishment of the Community’s objectives. Among the considerations

connected with the ‘State aid phenomenon’ and the cases arising from it, the

authors explore and clarify such factors as the following:

the meaning of ‘unlawful’ aid;

the growing significance of such fundamental principles as legal certainty;

proportionality, and legitimate expectations;

the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice over state aid cases;

the recovery obligation;

and the importance of focusing on the actual elements that demonstrate the

existence of prejudice to trade.

The approach throughout is eminently practical, with attention to

procedure before the Commission, Community courts, and national courts and it

is based upon EC documents and acts as well as orders and judgments by

national courts the more significant of which are published in the related

Annexes. Because of the authors’ specialist know-how in handling a wide

variety of relevant situations from many different points of view, on a

case-by-case basis, the book’s authority can hardly be doubted. It is sure to

be of great value to practitioners in all EU Member states, as well as to

economists, policymakers, and jurists dealing with Community law at all

levels.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Santa Maria, Alberto

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Wirtschaftsrecht Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz Wettbewerbs- und Kartellrecht, Werberecht
• Rechtswissenschaften Internationales Recht und Europarecht Europarecht Europäisches Handels-, Wirtschafts- und Gesellschaftsrecht, Währungsrecht

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction Alberto Santa Maria Chapter I The Concept of State Aid Martino Ebner and Edoardo Gambero Chapter II Exemptions from the General Incompatibility Principle under Articles 87 (2) and (3) EC Niccolò Landi Chapter III Existing Aid Paola Piroddi Chapter IV State Aid and Insolvency Proceedings Claudio Biscaretti di Cuffia Chapter V The State Aid Control Process before the European Commission Maia M.E. Reni Chapter VI Recovery of Unlawful and Incompatible Aid Edoardo Gambaro and Antonio Papi Rossi Chapter VII The Judicial Phase Edoardo Gambaro Chapter VIII Unlawful State Aid: Protection by National Courts Alberto Tedoldi Chapter IX Professional Sport and Competition Alberto Santa Maria, Annexes, Bibliography, Index