Subjects:

Competition Law, EU Law

Contents:

Introduction

PART I: GENERAL ISSUES

1. Definition of Aid

2. The Economics of State Aids

3. State Aids and the Financing of Services of General Interest

4. State Aids and Barriers to Trade

5. The European Commission Policy

6. State Aids and Enlargement

7. The EEA State aid regime: 'Small brother is watching you'

8. The Legal Regime of Subsidies in WTO Law

9. The 'cost-to-government' doctrine in the WTO

10. State Aid and Taxation

PART II: SELECTED AREAS OF STATE AID LAW

11. State Aids and Public Undertakings

12. State Aid and Financial Institutions

13. State Aid in the Energy Sector

14. State Aid and Public Broadcasting

PART III: REMEDIES AND ENFORCEMENT

15. The Role of the European Courts

16. Some Procedural Conundrums in State Aids Law

17. Decentralized Enforcement of State Aid Law: General Observations

18. The Role of National Courts

19. Substantive Issues of State Aid in a National Context

20. A View from the Bench

EC state aid law represents an increasingly important part of EC competition law. The case law at national and European levels is growing rapidly, both in quantity and importance. Significant and increasingly frequent legislative and regulatory measures have been adopted at the European level in this field. There are various reasons for this developing EU focus on public intervention in the economy, however the fundamental and primary rationale is the completion of the internal market, and the pressure which that brings for liberalization and privatization. This volume analyses the concept of aid and examines fundamental questions concerning the scope of state aid law.

It also offers a comparison with WTO provisions on subsidies and looks at EEA and applicant states' state aid regimes. It then focuses upon selected areas of state aid law and policy. The final part of the book is devoted to an assessment of the system of remedies and enforcement both at the EU and national level. The contributors to this volume come from a wide variety of backgrounds: they include academics, practitioners, the judiciary, and Government representatives at both national and EU level.