Nebbia, Paolisa --- "State Aid and the Role of National Courts" [2011] ELECD 713; 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 17

Section Title: State Aid and the Role of National Courts

Author(s): Nebbia, Paolisa

Number of pages: 14

Extract:

17 State aid and the role of national courts
Paolisa Nebbia


I. INTRODUCTION
National courts' role in the enforcement of State aid law stems from the
direct effect of the prohibition laid down in the last sentence of Article
108(3) TFEU.1
While the power to monitor the compatibility of proposed aid with the
common/internal market is vested in the Commission, national courts
are entrusted with the task of safeguarding the rights of individuals faced
with a possible breach by Member States' authorities of the obligation not
to grant any aid before it is approved by the Commission (the `standstill
obligation').2 In principle, such an obligation may be invoked in national
courts under two main scenarios: when a competitor of the aid-receiving
undertaking resorts to court for the annulment of the aid granted, and
when a taxpayer seeks to avoid payment of a tax resulting from the grant
of an aid.
National courts may also face State aid issues in cases where the
Commission has already ordered recovery: in this instance, claimants
would in most cases be applying for the annulment of a national recovery
order implementing the Commission Decision or, more rarely, be seeking
to recover damages from national authorities for failure to implement a
Commission recovery Decision.
The general principle governing such claims is that, in the absence of
EU rules, national remedies and national procedural rules must conform
to the principles of equivalence (as regards the treatment of comparable
but purely national disputes) ...