State Aid Uncovered

This fourth volume of State Aid Uncovered reviews the main developments in the field of State aid in 2016. The past 12 months have been full of surprising twists and turns in the evolution of the concept of State aid and in the conditions under which aid is compatible with the internal market. The Commission has published its much awaited Notice on the Notion of State aid and announced a major new initiative on business taxation. Phedon Nicolaides who is Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges and the University of Maastricht, as well as Academic Director at Lexxion Training, casts a critical eye on State aid judgments and decisions of the preceding year. The book compiles articles originally published on a weekly basis on Lexxion’s StateAidHub.eu. The articles are appropriately edited and conveniently grouped into chapters covering the main aspects of the concept of State aid such as “State Resources”, “Advantage”, “Selectivity”, “Effect on Trade”, “Infrastructure” as well as “New Aid” or the role of “National Courts”. Each article presents the main points of a court ruling or Commission decision, places them in the context of similar case law or practice, assesses the underlying reasoning, and identifies any inconsistencies or contradictions. The reader will benefit from a fairly comprehensive and easily accessible review of the main developments in State aid law and practice and will gain an insight in how State aid principles can be applied in practice.