EU State Aid Control: Law and Economics

In recent years, the European Commission has conducted an almost complete overhaul of State aid control in the European Union (EU). The State Aid Modernization (SAM) initiative has engendered new secondary legislation, as well as new guidelines covering practically all areas of State aid control, including both horizontal and sector-specific rules. Notable in these developments is an increasingly refined economic approach, both in the design of the rules and in the assessment of individual cases. This book, first of a kind in its in-depth analysis of the current legal and economic principles of EU State aid control, thoroughly explores the main rationales of State aid, the main concerns and the various trade-offs that underlie the rules and the decisions ultimately taken by the Commission and the Courts.

The first part of the book covers the various elements of the notion of State aid, including the hotly disputed conditions of economic advantage and selectivity. Its second part covers the compatibility of aid measures under horizontal rules across industry sectors, including an assessment of the efficiency of the General Block Exemption Regulation and of the new rules on ex post evaluation. The third part deals with the application of State aid rules in specific sectors such as infrastructure, broadband, energy and banking.

Distinguished experts - including lawyers, economists, academics, and officials of the European Commission and of Member State authorities - share their legal and economic experience, insight, and critique of EU State aid control as it stands.

As a critical assessment of the current status of EU State aid control from both legal and economic perspectives, and as an authoritative guide through its complexities and pitfalls, this book will be of immeasurable value, now and in the coming years, to all stakeholders required to understand, interpret and apply the rules under the new regime of State aid control.

Philipp Werner is a Partner in Jones Day’s Brussels office. He has extensive experience in the area of State aid and advises public and private companies on privatization, restructuring, and investment aid. Vincent Verouden is a Director in E.CA Economics’ Brussels office and a former Deputy Chief Economist at the European Commission. In this previous capacity, he was deeply involved in the various reform proposals in the context of the SAM programme.