Merola, Massimo; Debieuvre, Marie --- "The New Approach to State Aid: Contributions and Limits from Case Law of the European Courts" [2010] ELECD 372; in Mateus, M. Abel; Moreira, Teresa (eds), "Competition Law and Economics" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Competition Law and Economics

Editor(s): Mateus, M. Abel; Moreira, Teresa

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848449992

Section: Chapter 24

Section Title: The New Approach to State Aid: Contributions and Limits from Case Law of the European Courts

Author(s): Merola, Massimo; Debieuvre, Marie

Number of pages: 39

Extract:

24. The new approach to state aid:
contributions and limits from case
law of the European Courts
Massimo Merola and Marie Debieuvre

This chapter reproduces and expands on the presentation given in Lisbon
in November 2007 within the framework of the Annual Conference
organized by the Competition Authority in connection with the end of the
Portuguese Presidency of the EU and the celebrations to commemorate
the 50 years of the Treaty of Rome.
The issue analysed in this contribution is whether or not a link can be
established between the recent case law of the European Courts in the field
of State Aid and the new approach brought about by the State Aid Action
Plan (SAAP) within the ambit of the European Commission's enforce-
ment policy.
As is common knowledge, the SAAP, which was launched by
Commissioner Kroes in 2004, appears to remain at the top of the
Commission's list of priorities. The SAAP is rightfully considered as the
turning point of a long-lasting process of modernization of rules govern-
ing state aid which dates back to 1998, and the decisive step forward
towards a comprehensive reform of the subject matter, mainly because it
lays down the fundamental objectives of reform in this area, and draws up
a tentative list of possible new substantive and procedural tools to achieve
these objectives.
The SAAP is a programmatic document that sets out the Commission's
policy, and is therefore not a legally binding act that can be challenged
before ...