Category Archives: Commission decision

The Power to Get it Wrong by Dr Stephen Daly (King’s College London)

The assumption underlying competition (and antitrust) rules is that competition is good. As interventions by the State may create distortions to competition, then they are to be governed. Thus, State aid rules regulate the assistance that governments may provide to … Continue reading

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UK tax exemption ruled to be illegal State aid: reports emerge that HMRC may have to recover “tens to hundreds of millions of pounds” from beneficiary businesses.

We are grateful to Jonathan Branton and Alexander Rose of DWF for contributing this article.  On 2nd April 2019 the European Commission concluded that a tax break introduced in the Finance Act 2012 constitutes unlawful State aid to certain multi-national … Continue reading

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Stay of Micula brothers’ ICSID award upheld by Court of Appeal

On 27 July 2018, the Court of Appeal (Arden, Hamblen and Leggatt LLJ) handed down its judgment in Micula and others v Romania [2018] EWCA Civ 1801, a case concerning the intersection of international law rules for investment arbitration with EU law rules on State aid. Continue reading

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Ombudsman rejects complaint of maladministration in relation to third party rights in Commission investigations

Some of the readers of this blog will be aware of John Temple Lang’s complaint to the Ombudsman, and related article (“The Charter and the EU State Aid Procedure” in de Vries, Bernitz and Weatherill, The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights … Continue reading

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Apple State aid decision just announced

In a press release today (http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-2923_en.htm), the Commission has announced that it has decided that Apple received State aid from Ireland in the form of “undue tax benefits of up to €13 billion”. According to Ms Vestager, the Commissioner responsible for … Continue reading

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AG opinion in Irish Air Travel Tax case

This morning Advocate General Mengozzi handed down his opinion in the appeals in the Aer Lingus and Ryanair cases concerning the Irish air travel tax (Joined Cases C-164/15 P and C-165/15 P). The AG has recommended setting aside, in part, … Continue reading

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Commission decision on Dutch public authority exemption from corporation tax

In a press release issued on 21 January (http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-124_en.htm) the Commission announced that it objected under the State aid rules to a provision of Dutch corporation tax law that exempted six named Dutch seaports, run by public undertakings, from tax.  … Continue reading

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Commission finds tax rulings in favour of Fiat and Starbucks to be illegal State aid

Hot off the press, here is today’s press release from the Commission, announcing negative decisions in relation to tax rulings issued by Luxembourg, in relation to Fiat, and the Netherlands, in relation to Starbucks. The decisions conclude formal investigations that … Continue reading

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BIT arbitration awards and State aid – the Commission’s Micula decision

The interface between BIT arbitration awards and the EU State aid rules has never been an easy issue, and it came to the fore in the Micula case. The Commission’s decision in that case was adopted on 30 March 2015, … Continue reading

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Commission approves electric charging post investment as compatible State aid

Thank you to Alexander Rose for this blog post. The European Commission has approved the roll out of €33m of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the Netherlands as compatible State aid under Article 107(3)(c) of the TFEU. The Green Deal measure … Continue reading

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