EU State Aid Control of Infrastructure Funding

EU State Aid Control of Infrastructure Funding focuses on the complex rules of EU State Aid control in the infrastructure sector and how they have been interpreted in the European Commission’s decisional practice and by the EU courts. The elements of infrastructure – roads, transportation, electricity, water, communications, schools, hospitals – are so ingrained in the fabric of daily life that few people give a second thought to who provides them, and how. Yet, they are controlled by an extensive and complex regulatory system. Moreover, the EU’s State aid modernization plan has made infrastructure a crucial aspect of competition law. How did EU State aid law turn into regulation on whether a city can build a new airport, or how it may operate a school? And what do the rules actually mean for infrastructure funding? These are the questions this book, the first comprehensive guide to EU State aid law in this key sector and a major contribution to the debate on the topic, seeks to answer.

What’s in this book:

In its thorough review of the legal literature as well as relevant legislation and case law, this book covers such aspects of the infrastructure-State aid nexus as the following:

• role of infrastructure in competition law;
• infrastructure funding as aid and its compatibility with the internal market;
• impact on land development and other ongoing activities;
• sector-specific impact of State aid regulation on the design of infrastructure projects;
• risk management; and
• newer infrastructure sectors, such as sports, cultural and healthcare projects.

At many points in the presentation, the case-by-case analysis provides individual appraisals. In addition to focusing on the complex rules and their interpretation by the EU courts, this book provides deeply informed proposals for reform.

How this will help you:

In light of EU State aid control being extended to the infrastructure sector, this book forms a key work on EU law that has developed and changed dramatically in recent years. This book identifies practical problems in designing projects and thereby enables practitioners and lawyers to confidently manage risks concerning EU State aid law. This book will be of immeasurable value to jurists in State aid law, competition law and public procurement, as well as market actors (aid beneficiaries and competitors), policymakers, government officials and business persons in these fields.