This revised and updated Research Handbook on European State Aid Law brings together established academics and practitioners to provide a wide-ranging coverage of the field. Incorporating political science, economics and the law in its analysis, it provides a strong overview of the salient issues in State aid law and policy.

The recent State Aid Modernization has decentralized the enforcement of State aid law. In particular, under the General Block Exemption Regulation a number of aid schemes do not require the preventive “check” by the European Commission, while national courts play a growing role in private enforcement of State aid law. This insightful book analyzes the enforcement of State aid law in the aftermath of the State Aid Modernization, identifying a number of emerging trends at the national and EU level.

Rules controlling State aid and subsidies on the EU and the WTO level can have a decisive influence on both regulatory and distributive decision-making. This field of law has grown exponentially in importance and complexity over the past decades. Rules on State aid and subsidies control are one of the key instruments to ensure that public spending and regulatory measures do not lead to discriminatory distortions of competition. As a consequence, hardly any part of national law is free from review under criteria of State aid and subsidy regulation. In turn, State aid and subsidies law is linked to economic, constitutional, administrative law of the EU and the Member States as well as to public international law. This book brings together leading experts from academia, the judiciary, civil servants from the European Commission, and practising lawyers to provide expert opinion and commentary on the diverse dimensions of the complex and vital area of law. Critically analysing and explaining developments and current approaches in State aid law and subsidies, the chapters take into account not only the legal dimensions but also the economic and political implications. They address the EU law applicable to State aid in the aftermath of the recent State Modernisation reform, and coverage includes: an in-depth analysis of the notion of State aid as interpreted by the Court's cases-law and the Commission's practice; the rules on compatibility of State aid with the internal market; the rules governing the procedure before the Commission; the litigation before the Court of Justice of the European Union; and analysis of the other trade defence instruments, including WTO subsidy law and EU anti-subsidy law.

The Research Handbook on European Social Security Law critically examines the various European dimensions of social security. The collection discusses a wide range of questions and dilemmas ensuing from the present state of European social security law, whilst at the same time identifying future lines of inquiry that are likely to dominate the discourse in the coming years. This Handbook encompasses numerous dimensions of European social security law, including: social security as a human right; standard setting in social security; the protection of mobile persons and migrants; as well as the global context of European social security law. It pays attention to both EU law and to various instruments of the Council of Europe. Throughout the book's chapters prominent experts analyse contemporary debates, discuss new challenges and point out further lines of research. Via this exploration, the Handbook provides a source of inspiration for the development of this special field of law. Covering a breadth of topic and research, scholars and practitioners alike will find this Research Handbook to be an invaluable source of information.

How has the evolution and transformation of the Common Market affected the legal concept of State aid? How has State aid adapted to the development of the European Union? These questions and more are answered in Juan Jorge Piernas López's examination of the historical, political, constitutional, and economical events that have affected the development of State aid in the EU. Examining three key, interwoven arguments, this book provides a richer understanding of current formulas which depict the concept of aid through the prism of policy and enforcement considerations. First, the book demonstrates that the concept of aid is a 'living instrument' that has been applied in accordance with the main policy priorities of the European Commission. Second, contrary to what has been affirmed in other literature, the evolution of this concept has been influenced by the broader advancement of the case law of the Court of Justice in different periods of the integration process. Third, the author contends that the study of the evolution of the concept of aid in light of policy and case law provides a holistic outlook valuable to the decision making process of difficult cases. In this regard, the book provides criteria to interpret and discuss cases including Sloman Neptun, Philip Morris, and Azores, beyond the analysis traditionally adopted in this field.

The EU’s influence on sport has traditionally focused on the socio-economic and cultural impact. This Research Handbook on EU Sports Law explores the development of the 'European dimension' in sport, and the concomitant legal issues including, competition law, state aid and free movement of persons. The application of such areas of EU law to sport and the influence of EU law on key policy issues such as, doping, match-fixing and governance, are detailed in this comprehensive collection. The topical chapters by experts in their field, also touch upon the future evolution of EU sports law.

Introduction - The Law and Economics of EU State Aid Control /Vincent Verouden and Philipp Werner --Advantage /Giuseppe Conte and James Kavanagh --State Measure /Rein Wesseling and Marieke Bredenoord-Spoek --Selectivity /Michael Honoré --Distortion of Competition and Effect on Trade /Jacques Derenne and Vincent Verouden --Compatibility of Aid - General Introduction /Leigh Hancher and Phedon Nicolaides --General Block Exemption Regulation /Koert van Buiren and Alexander Rose --Ex Post Evaluation of Aid /Xavier Boutin and Inkalotta Nuotio-Osazee --Research, Development and Innovation Aid /Pascal Belmin and Hans Zenger --Regional Aid /Hans W. Friederiszick and Massimo Merola --Risk Finance Aid /Isabel Taylor and Albert Bravo-Biosca --Rescue and Restructuring Aid /Ulrich Soltész and Bruce Lyons --Services of General Economic Interest /Philipp Werner and Vincent Verouden --Infrastructure Aid /Penelope Papandropoulos and Elisabetta Righini --State Aid in the Broadband Sector /Hein Hobbelen and Oliver Stehmann --State Aid in the Postal Services Sector /Alessandra Fratini and Khaled Diaw --Transport Aid /Udo Woll and Andrew Meaney --Energy and Environmental Aid /Kai Struckmann and Geza Sapi --Aid to Broadcasting, Culture and Sport /Christine Gerlach and Dimitrios Pikios --Aid in the Banking Sector /Stan Maes and Stephen Mavroghenis --State Aid and Privatisation /Andreas von Bonin and Elisabeth Häringer.

If an EU industrial policy can be said to exist, its contours may be found in the complex and evolving concept of State aid. Because approaching any State aid issue can be fraught with multiple and sometimes conflicting interpretations, an in-depth analysis of the rationales, initiatives, and regulations that constitute the State aid system is much needed. In response to this need, this book provides a fine-grained clarifying context through which recent reforms, policy shifts, and judicial decisions concerning State aid can be understood and applied to specific situations. Focusing on the impacts of landmark cases and policy developments leading up to a deeply informed critique of the current State Aid Modernisation Programme, the authors cover such issues and topics as the following: – linkages to other established and evolving EU common policies and common strategies; – effect of EU State aid rules in the expanding geopolitical regions of EU influence; – interaction with the WTO Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreement; – the problem of a ‘subsidies culture’; – how the European Commission’s notion of ‘bad’ State aid has evolved; – effect of EU policy imperatives (e.g., environmental goals) which implicitly argue for increased subsidisation; – nexus with EU tax harmonisation; – competition among undertakings versus competition among Member State policies; and – nature of the quasi-devolution of regulatory responsibilities to EU Member States. This book is a crucially important source of both theoretical enlightenment and practical wisdom that will greatly enhance confident progress through any legal matter involving EU State aid rules. It will prove of immeasurable value to practitioners, in-house counsel, policymakers, and academics for many years to come.

Research Handbook on EU Institutional Law offers a critical look into the European Union: its legal foundations, competences and institutions. It provides an analysis of the EU legal system, its application at the national level and the prevalent role of the Court of Justice. Throughout the course of the Handbook the expert contributors discuss whether the European Union is well equipped for the 21st century and the numerous crises it has to handle. They revisit the call for an EU reform made in the Laeken Conclusions in 2001 to verify if its objectives have been achieved by the Treaty of Lisbon and in daily practice of the EU institutions. The book also delves into the concept of a Europe of different speeds, which - according to some - is inevitable in the EU comprising 28 Member States. Overall, the assessment of the changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty is positive, even if there are plenty of suggestions for further reforms to re-fit the EU for purpose.

This third edition of Conor Quigley's highly acclaimed book offers the most comprehensive and detailed examination of European State Aid law. The book is designed to provide lawyers, regulators, public officials and students with a definitive statement of the law and practice of State Aid. At the same time as placing State Aid law and policy in its economic, commercial and industrial context, the book fully explores the concept of State Aid and its function as a tool of EU law. All of this is achieved by means of the most thorough examination of the extensive jurisprudence of the European Courts and the decisions, legislation and guidelines of the Commission in declaring aid compatible or incompatible with the internal market. The analysis incorporates all the developments wrought by the European Commission's 2013 State Aid Modernisation programme, including detailed chapters on Research & Development, environment and energy, restructuring aid, risk capital for SMEs, as well as sectoral aid including, in particular, a detailed assessment of State Aid and the financial crisis. The Commission's supervisory powers as well as the means of enforcing State Aid law in the EU and national courts are also fully explained.