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Tax Incentives Under State Aid Law: A Competition Law Perspective

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Book cover State Aid Law and Business Taxation

Part of the book series: MPI Studies in Tax Law and Public Finance ((MPISTUD,volume 6))

Abstract

Respecting the line between the policy areas of taxation and state aid law is important not only from the Member States’ perspectives, but also from the points of view of the European Parliament and the protection of individual rights. State aid law’s current approach to tax measures and their assessment is not in balance: The borderline to the tax policy area is blurred. It is at a constant risk of being crossed by the Commission in its effort to be the wingman of a sluggish EU tax legislator in the quest against harmful tax competition. This contribution explains why safeguarding the balance between state aid and taxes is important, what the flaws in the current approach are, how they can be modified and in how far this would make a difference for future state aid tax cases.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Comprehensively also Jaeger (2015), p. 345 passim; Haslehner (2011), p. 278.

  2. 2.

    For more Rüffler and Steinwender (2013), p. 560.

  3. 3.

    Schön (2012), para. 10-001.

  4. 4.

    See, e.g. Musil (2014), p. 957; Quigley (2009), p. 65; Jaeger (2011), para. 1; Mamut (2008), p. 178.

  5. 5.

    For more Jaeger (2015), p. 345 passim.

  6. 6.

    European Commission (2014b). See also European Commission (2015c).

  7. 7.

    European Commission (2014a). Consultations on the proposal were re-launched at the turn of 2015/16.

  8. 8.

    European Commission (2015a).

  9. 9.

    European Commission (1998), rec. 1.

  10. 10.

    See Lane and Ersson (1999), p. 217.

  11. 11.

    Sutter (2014), para. 5.

  12. 12.

    Cf., e.g. Jaeger (2013), p. 693.

  13. 13.

    For more, see Knade-Plaskacz (2013), p. 119.

  14. 14.

    See, e.g. Jaeger (2012), p. 173.

  15. 15.

    Case C-88/03, Portugal v Commission EU:C:2006:511, para. 20.

  16. 16.

    E.g. Case C-452/10 P, BNP Paribas v Commission EU:C:2012:366, para. 121; Case C-159/01 Netherlands v Commission EU:C:2004:246, para. 43; Case C-279/08 P Commission v Netherlands EU:C:2011:551, para. 77; Joined Cases C-106/09 P and C-107/09 P, Commission and Spain v Government of Gibraltar and United Kingdom EU:C:2011:732, para. 146.

  17. 17.

    Case T-210/02, British Aggregates v Commission EU:T:2006:253, paras. 114, 115.

  18. 18.

    Case C-487/06 P, British Aggregates v Commission EU:C:2008:757, paras. 86–88.

  19. 19.

    On the existence of selective state aid, see contribution by Schön, Tax Legislation and the Notion of Fiscal Aid—A review of Five Year of European Jurisprudence, in this volume.

  20. 20.

    Case T-210/02 RENV, British Aggregates v Commission EU:T:2012:110, paras. 52, 102.

  21. 21.

    Case T-512/11, Ryanair Ltd. v Commission EU:T:2014:989, paras. 80, 81.

  22. 22.

    Case T-512/11, Ryanair Ltd. v Commission EU:T:2014:989, para. 80.

  23. 23.

    Cf. Case C-279/08 P, Commission v Netherlands EU:C:2011:551, para. 77; Case C-452/10 P, BNP Paribas v Commission EU:C:2012:366, para. 121.

  24. 24.

    Case T-251/11, Austria v Commission EU:T:2014:1060, para. 117.

  25. 25.

    See Jaeger (2015), pp. 356 et seq.

  26. 26.

    C-279/08 P, Commission v Netherlands EU:C:2011:551, paras. 62, 67.

  27. 27.

    Case C-518/13, Eventech v The Parking Adjudicator EU:C:2015:9, para. 49.

  28. 28.

    See, e.g. Case C-452/10 P, BNP Paribas v Commission EU:C:2012:366, para. 121.

  29. 29.

    Including the effect of a shift in the burden of proof, see C-279/08 P, Commission v Netherlands EU:C:2011:551, para. 77.

  30. 30.

    Case T-210/02 RENV, British Aggregates v Commission EU:T:2012:110, paras. 46–48.

  31. 31.

    Case T-399/11 Banco Santander, SA v Commission EU:T:2014:938, paras. 52 and 53; Case T-219/10 Autogrill v Commission EU:T:2014:939, paras. 48 and 49; Appeal Case before the Court of Justice C-21/15 P.

  32. 32.

    European Commission (2007), paras. 31 and 35.

  33. 33.

    Case C-15/14 P Commission v MOL EU:C:2015:362, para. 60.

  34. 34.

    European Commission (2015b).

  35. 35.

    Cf. Case C-431/14 P Greece v Commission EU:C:2014:2418, para. 10; Joined Cases C-533/12 P and C-536/12 P SNCM v Corsica Ferries EU:C:2014:4, paras. 37 and 58, regarding the misuse of discretion.

  36. 36.

    Joined Cases T-195/01 R and T-207/01 R, Government of Gibraltar v Commission EU:T:2002:111, para 12. See also Haslehner (2012), p. 303.

  37. 37.

    Schön (1999), p. 915.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Thomas Jaeger

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  1. Thomas Jaeger
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Correspondence to Thomas Jaeger .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tax Institute, HEC-University of Liège , Liège, Belgium

    Isabelle Richelle

  2. Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, Munich, Germany

    Wolfgang Schön

  3. Faculté de droit et de crimonologie, Université catholique de Louvain , Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Edoardo Traversa

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Jaeger, T. (2016). Tax Incentives Under State Aid Law: A Competition Law Perspective. In: Richelle, I., Schön, W., Traversa, E. (eds) State Aid Law and Business Taxation. MPI Studies in Tax Law and Public Finance, vol 6. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-53055-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-53055-9_3

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