Abstract
The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty has, contrary to the view held by certain scholars, not changed the exclusive competence of the Commission for authorizing State aid for SGEI compensation. Article 14 TFEU, second sentence, does not provide a legal basis for legislating on the notion, the compatibility, or the notification exemption for State aid in the form of SGEI compensation. Under the legal constraints set by Altmark and its exclusive competence, the Commission has decided, first of all, to engage in a broad consultation and dialogue with the other Institutions and all stakeholders, including the legal community, prior to revising the Monti-Kroes package. With regard to the content of the Almunia package, it has opted for clarification (restatement of the case law and its decision practice); simplification (total notification exemption of social services) and proportionality (stricter rules for certain sectors and compensation above 15 million EUR). Whereas under the Monti-Kroes package, all SGEI were essentially treated the same way (verification for absence of overcompensation), the Almunia package tightens the rules for large SGEI. It excludes undertakings in difficulty from the benefit of SGEI compensations if they do not at the same time undergo in-depth restructuring (including usually compensatory measures in the form of disposals of assets and market share); requires award of the SGEI by tender (except for in house situations) and efficiency incentives in the compensation mechanism (so as to become Altmark compliant over time); and reserves the right for the Commission to ask for additional commitments in situations where there is particular risk of trade being affected to an extent contrary to the interest of the Union.
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Notes
- 1.
CJEU, Case C-202/88, France v. Commission [1991] ECR I-1223.
- 2.
CJEU, Case C-393/92 Almelo [1994] ECR-I 1477, para 50; CJEU, Case C-157/94 Commission v. Netherlands, [1997] ECR-I 5699, para 63; CJEU, Case C-158/94, Commission v Italy, [1997] ECR-I 5789, para 59; CJEU, Case C-159/94 Commission v. France [1997] ECR-I 5815, para 106. See also the standard monograph on this case law written by Buendía Sierra 1999.
- 3.
As here: Buendia Sierra 2008, p. 221. For the diverging view see authors quoted in the following footnote.
- 4.
- 5.
Prechal 2008, p. 67.
- 6.
CJEU, Case 127/73 BRT v Sabam [1974] ECR 314, para 19. Bekkedal 2011 considers this case law to be still ‘good law’ and provides ample reasoning in this regard.
- 7.
GC, Case T-106/95 FFSA a.o. v Commission ECR [1997] ECR II-229, para 173; Case T-128/98 Aéroports de Paris v Commission ECR [2000] ECR II-3929, para 227.
- 8.
GC, Joined Cases T-568/08 and T-573/08 M6 and TF1 v. Commission ECR [2010] ECR II-3397, paras 136–141.
- 9.
Edward 1996, pp. 8 et seq.
- 10.
Schweitzer 2011.
- 11.
Wernicke 2009, pp. 76–79.
- 12.
CJEU, Case C-480/06 Commission v. Germany [2009] ECR I-4747, paras 46–49. See for a diverging view Skovgaard Olykke 2011 who reads in this ruling “a renewed role for Article 106 (2) TFEU”.
- 13.
- 14.
CONV 516/1/03 REV1, para 32 at the end.
- 15.
Council document 12029/01, French memorandum on services of general economic interest, 20 September 2001. On the genesis of Article 14 TFEU in the Convention see also Buendía Sierra 2012a, P. 363.
- 16.
- 17.
- 18.
See in this sense also Communication A Quality Framework for Services of General Economic Interest in Europe, COM (2011) 900 final, p. 5, fn 9. See also in this sense Buendía Sierra 2012a, p. 365.
- 19.
This conclusion is also reached by Bonkamp 2001 at p. 157.
- 20.
CJEU, Joined Cases C-48/90 and C-66/90, [1992] ECR I-565, paras 29 and 31; see in the same sense GC, Case T-266/97 Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij v Commission [1999] ECR II-2329, point 34; GC Case T-53/01 R Poste Italiane v. Commission [2001] ECR II-1479, para 133.
- 21.
Wernicke 2011.
- 22.
Schweitzer 2004, pp. 293–312.
- 23.
- 24.
Rodrigues 2009, pp. 262–265.
- 25.
Bauby 2001, p. 34.
- 26.
Krajewski 2011, p. 186.
- 27.
- 28.
- 29.
- 30.
Rules governing the establishment of intergroups of on 16 December 1999 (last updated on 14 February 2008), available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdf/intergroupes/Rule_ConferenceofPresident_19991216_en.pdf.
- 31.
It has to be observed that in the first round of consultations, which was based on a questionnaire available in all official languages, a significant number of answers came from Poland and Italy. In the second round, which was based on a questionnaire in English, no contribution from those two countries was received.
- 32.
See references in the fns above in Sect. 6.1.2.2.
- 33.
Barroso 2009, p. 24.
- 34.
European Commission, Services of general interest, including social services of general interest: a new European commitment COM (2007) 725 final.
- 35.
A Quality Framework for Services of General Economic Interest in Europe, COM (2011) 900 final.
- 36.
Strictly speaking, Article 106(3) TFEU serves only as legal basis for the SGEI Decision. The SGEI Communication, as an interpretative communication, does not require any particular legal basis, as it does not have any legal effect. The SGEI Framework is based on the discretion the Commission enjoys under Article 106(2) TFEU; and the SGEI de minimis Regulation is based on Regulation No 994/98 on the application of Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty establishing the European Community to certain categories of horizontal State aid (OJ L 142/1, hereafter: the Enabling Regulation), which in turn is based on Article 109 TFEU.
- 37.
European Commission, European Governance. A White Paper. COM (2001) 428 final.
- 38.
The Application of EU State Aid rules on Services of General Economic Interest since 2005 and the Outcome of the Public Consultation, SEC (2011) 397.
- 39.
Reform of the EU State Aid Rules on Services of General Economic Interest, COM (2011) 146 final.
- 40.
Resolution A7 0371/2011 of 24 October 2011 (Draftsman: Peter Simon).
- 41.
Opinion COR/2011/150 (Draftsman: Karl-Heinz Lambertz), OJ 2011 C 259/40.
- 42.
Opinion EESC/2011/1008 (Draftsman: Raymond Hencks), OJ 2011 C 248/149.
- 43.
Recital 4.11 of Opinion EESC/2011/1008; Recitals 12–14 of Opinion COR/2011/150.
- 44.
Opinion COR/2011/278 (Draftsman: Karl-Heinz Lambertz), OJ C 9 of 11 January 2012, p. 45.
- 45.
- 46.
The conference proceedings have been edited by Messola 2011. Selected papers of the conference were also published in a supplement to EStAL 2/2012.
- 47.
SEC (2011) 1581.
- 48.
See out of the rich case law on this point in particular CJEU, Case C-313/90 CIRFS v Commission [1993] ECR I-1177, para 36; Case C-464/09 P Holland Malt v Commission [2010] ECR I-0000, para 47.
- 49.
European Commission, European Governance. A White Paper. COM (2001) 428 final.
- 50.
See for a more detailed analysis of this point Maxian Rusche 2010.
- 51.
The impact assessment system has been launched in 2002, see Communication Impact Assessment, COM (2002) 276 final. According to the most recent Impact Assessment Guidelines issued by the Commission (SEC (2009) 92, p. 6), an impact assessment is needed for all legislative proposals and for all non-legislative proposals which have clearly identifiable economic, social, and environmental impacts and for non-legislative initiatives which define future policies (such as white papers, action plans, expenditure programmes, negotiating guidelines for international agreements). Proposals in the area of State aid have been subject to impact assessments only since very recently, starting with the Community guidelines on State aid for railway undertakings (OJ 2008 C 184/13).
- 52.
To be precise, it would seem that the Monti-Kroes package, while requiring an entrustment act, is not as demanding as the second Altmark condition with regard to the content of the entrustment.
- 53.
- 54.
Buendía Sierra 2012b.
- 55.
Recital 3 of the SGEI Communication.
- 56.
CJEU, Case C-56/93 Belgium v. Commission [1996] ECR I-723, paras 10 and 11.
- 57.
It is important to note that the scope of application of the four freedoms is broader than the scope of application of the Treaty rules on competition. This has been explained in clear terms by the CJEU, Court in Case C-350/07 Kattner Stahlbau [2009] ECR I-1513, para 34 (compulsory insurance for accidents at work and occupational diseases is not an undertaking in the context of competition law) and 73–92 (rules on free movement of services are applicable to companies providing compulsory insurance for accidents at work and occupational diseases). See also recital 15 of the SGEI Communication with further references to the case law.
- 58.
See recital 15–30 of the SGEI Communication for the restatement of the case law.
- 59.
CJEU, Case C-280/00[2003] ECR I-7747, para 81.
- 60.
Recital 40 of the SGEI Communication.
- 61.
See for example the observations of Germany in Commission Decision 2011/501/EU implemented by Germany for Bahnen der Stadt Monheim (BSM) and Rheinische Bahngesellschaft (RBG) in the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr, OJ 2011 210/1.
- 62.
Judgment of the Bundesverwaltungsgericht in Case BVerwG 3 C 44.09 of 16 December 2010, paras 38 and 39.
- 63.
Judgment of the Bundesverwaltungsgericht in Case BVerwG 3 C 44.09 of 16 December 2010, paras 38 and 39, (erroneously) referring to the judgment of the Court in CJEU, Case C-480/06 Commission v. Germany [2009] ECR I-4747, paras 46–49. This latter judgment of the CJEU concerned, as discussed above, public procurement, and not State aid and Article 106(2) TFEU.
- 64.
Interpretative SGEI Communication, recital 13.
- 65.
CJEU, Case C-295/05, [2007] ECR I-2999, paras 110–116.
- 66.
Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road (OJ 2007 L 315/1), Articles 5(2) and 6(1).
- 67.
Commission Decision 2011/501/EU of 23 February 2011 on State aid implemented by Germany for Bahnen der Stadt Monheim (BSM) and Rheinische Bahngesellschaft (RBG) in the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr, OJ 2011 L 210/1, paras 208–209.
- 68.
Commission Decision of 25 April 2012 on State aid implemented by Germany for Zweckverband Tierkoerperbeseitigung Rheinland-Pfalz, not yet published in the OJ, IP/12/308.
- 69.
Recital 51–53 of the SGEI Communication.
- 70.
Recital 61 of the SGEI Communication.
- 71.
CJEU, Case C-324/98 Telaustria Verlags GmbH and Telefonadress GmbH v Telekom Austria AG [2000] ECR I-10745, para 60.
- 72.
OJ 2004 L 134/14.
- 73.
OJ 2004 L 134/1.
- 74.
SGEI Communication, Recital 66.
- 75.
SGEI Communication, Recital 67 and 68.
- 76.
Interpretative SGEI Communication, recital 75.
- 77.
See Chap. 10 by van de Gronden and Rusu.
- 78.
Recital 9 of the SGEI Framework.
- 79.
Recital 19 of the SGEI Framework.
- 80.
Recital 10d of the SGEI Framework.
- 81.
Recital 39–43 of the SGEI Framework.
- 82.
Recital 51–59 of the SGEI Framework.
- 83.
See for a comprehensive summary of the discussion Buendía Sierra 2008, pp. 214–218.
- 84.
GC, Joined Cases T-568/08 and T-573/08 M6 and TF1 v. Commission [2010] ECR II-3397, paras 136–141.
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Maxian Rusche, T. (2013). The Almunia Package: Legal Constraints, Policy Procedures, and Political Choices. In: Szyszczak, E., van de Gronden, J. (eds) Financing Services of General Economic Interest. Legal Issues of Services of General Interest. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague, The Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-906-1_6
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