Lykotrafiti, Antigoni --- "The Intersection between the Market Economy Investor Principle and the One Time-last Time Principle in the Context of Airline Restructuring Operations" [2011] ELECD 702; in Szyszczak, Erika (ed), "Research Handbook on European State Aid Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: Research Handbook on European State Aid Law

Editor(s): Szyszczak, Erika

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849802741

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: The Intersection between the Market Economy Investor Principle and the One Time-last Time Principle in the Context of Airline Restructuring Operations

Author(s): Lykotrafiti, Antigoni

Number of pages: 19

Extract:

6 The intersection between the market
economy investor principle and the one
time-last time principle in the context of
airline restructuring operations
Antigoni Lykotrafiti


I. INTRODUCTION

The chapter examines the intersection between the market economy inves-
tor principle (MEIP) and the one time-last time principle in the context
of airline restructuring operations. The MEIP is a filtering mechanism
designed to distinguish between cases of aid and cases of normal com-
mercial transactions. In that sense, it constitutes the first step in a State aid
analysis, being concerned with whether Article 107(1) TFEU applies or
not. The one time-last time principle is a means to achieve optimal alloca-
tion of resources and therefore applies in a second step, when a finding of
aid has already been reached and a compatibility assessment is pending.
Since the principles in question are conceptually distinct, their intersection
could not be easily ascertained. The only point where they seem to inter-
sect is at the very end of a negative MEIP analysis and the very beginning
of a compatibility analysis, that is, when a finding of aid at the end of the
MEIP analysis triggers the application of the one time-last time principle
at the beginning of the compatibility analysis.
Nevertheless, the application of the principles in the context of airline
restructuring cases reveals a constant intersection. This is so because the
MEIP is re-applied during the second step of the analysis, following a
finding of incompatibility by virtue of ...