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Checks and balances in EU State aid procedures: should more be done to protect the rights of aid recipients and third parties?

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Abstract

A recent Advocate General’s Opinion in the long-running Scott Paper saga has again called into question the procedural fairness of the European Commission’s State aid procedures. This paper examines issues of due process in State aid cases and suggests that it may now be time to consider fundamental procedural reform. Issues discussed include the limited rights afforded to aid recipients and interested third parties, the often excessive length of State aid procedures, and the inadequacy of the appeals process. We submit that modern State aid enforcement calls for procedural reform.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sidley Austin LLP, Square de Meeus 35, 1000, Brussels, Belgium

    Kristina Nordlander

  2. Sidley Austin LLP, Woolgate Exchange 25, Basinghall Street, London, EC2V 5HA, GB

    David Went

Authors
  1. Kristina Nordlander
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  2. David Went
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Correspondence to Kristina Nordlander.

Additional information

This paper is partly based on a presentation given at the ‘Annual Forum on European State Aid Law’ organised by ERA in Trier on 12–13 November 2009. The views expressed by the authors in this article are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sidley Austin LLP or any of its clients. The authors are grateful to Rosanna Connolly and Max Dannheisser for their assistance.

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Nordlander, K., Went, D. Checks and balances in EU State aid procedures: should more be done to protect the rights of aid recipients and third parties?. ERA Forum 11, 361–377 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-010-0171-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-010-0171-y

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