Home > Legal articles > Have public money to burn? Check the Commission’s guidance first
The European Commission recently published guidance on the notion of state aid to help companies and public authorities determine whether public investments first need to be notified to the Commission. The guidance clarifies the different elements of the notion of state aid as interpreted in EU case law. In addition, it provides specific clarifications in relation to state aid and infrastructure. Companies and public authorities should double-check the guidance to ensure they can spend public money without prior Commission scrutiny.
The guidance is the last part of the Commission’s State Aid Modernisation initiative. The guidance systematically summarises EU case law and sets out the different aspects of the definition of state aid. These aspects include: the existence of an undertaking, the imputability of the measure to the State, its financing through State resources, the granting of an advantage, the selectivity of the measure, and its effect on competition and trade between Member States. The guidance also provides a number of useful clarifications regarding the public funding of infrastructure, including the following:
The guidance replaces a number of Commission Communications and Notices including the Commission Communication on State aid elements in sales of land and buildings by public authorities and the Commission Notice on the application of the State aid rules to measures relating to direct business taxation.
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