Enforcement of State aid law at national level. The relationship between national courts and the European Commission

• Author: Agnieszka Knade-Plaskacz
• Position: Faculty of Law and Administration, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland
• Pages: 116-125

Enforcement of State aid law at national level. The relationship

between national courts and the European Commission

Lecturer PhD Agnieszka KNADE-PLASKACZ

1

Abstract

The control of state aid is an unique fea ture of competition policy in the Eur opean

Union. This pa per sets out to show the ba lance between Member States a nd the Euro pean

Union in the ar ea of state aid policy.

After a brief overview of the principles under lying the enforcement of state aid la w

in the Member States, we will describe the basic princip les under lying the division of

responsibilities between the Commission and national cour ts in state aids matter s, then we

will discuss the two main responsibilities facing national courts – protecting competitors

aga inst unlawful aid and ensuring effective recovery of illegal and incompatible a id.

Keywords: Europea n Union, State a id, national courts, Eur opean Commission.

JEL Classification: K23

1. Introduction

This paper sets out to show the balance between Member States and the

European Union in the area of State aid policy. The State aid control is unique

feature of competition policy in the European Union. Only in the EFTA there is a

similar system of supranational control over the subsidies granted by States to

undertakings, a system which owes its existence to the need to harmonize

competition policies in the European Economic Area2.

Under the principle of cooperation in good faith laid down in Article 4(3)

TEU, Member States are required to nullify the unlawful consequences of a breach

of European Union law3. Such an obligation is owed, within the sphere of its

competence, by every organ of the Member State concerned. Thus national courts

are also under such an obligation4.

In the State aid Scoreboard of Autumn 2008, the Commission considers

that State aid enforcement by national courts can play an important role in the

overall system of State aid control. National courts are often well placed to protect

individual rights affected by violations of the State aid rules and can offer quick

1 Agnieszka Knade-Plaskacz - Faculty of Law and Administration, Nicolaus Copernicus University in

Torun, Poland, akp@law.uni.torun.pl

2 See: C. Buelens, G. Garnier, M. Johnson and R. Meiklejohn, The economic ana lysis of state a id:

Some open questions. “European Economy. Economic Papers”, 286/2007, p. 2.

3 See inter alia: Joined Cases C 6/90 and C-9/90 F rancovich and Other s [1991] ECR I-5357,

paragraph 36.

4 F or description and analysis of the member states varying approaches in applying EU State aid

rules, see: C. Buts, T. Joris, M. Jegers, State aid policy in EU Member States. It's a different game

they play, “European State Aid Law Quarterly” 2013, Vol. 1, pp. 330-342.