Keywords
state Aid, non-aid public financing, infrastructure, sea ports
Abstract
Transport by sea plays a vital role for the economy of the European Union. Among all the infrastructure elements necessary to conduct transport by sea, the port infrastructure (in the wide meaning of this term) is of the utmost importance. Its development is often financed form public resources, as it is one of the basic duties of a state. However, in practice a borderline between situations, when public financing of port infrastructure constitutes State Aid and those in which not all of the criteria laid down in Art. 107 (1) TFEU are met and thus such financing is a means of exercising public authority by constructing infrastructure open to all potential users, is a ”thin red line”. This is so because currently there is no act in the EU legal regime (either binding or non-binding) which lays down clear and precise rules and standards of assessment of public financing of port infrastructure in two aspects: 1) When does it constitute State Aid according to Art. 107 (1) TFEU? 2) What are the criteria of compatibility of State Aid aimed at the development of port infrastructure with the EU internal market? The present article focuses on the first of the abovementioned questions. However, the question will be analysed form the perspective of the kinds of port infrastructure, public financing of which may or may not constitute State Aid, and thus not all of the criteria stemming from Art. 107 (1) TFEU will be examined. This is so because in practice most difficulties arise in the said area.
Recommended Citation
Ciupak, K. (2012). State aid or not? Legal dilemmas connected with the assessment of public financing of sea ports infrastructure – far from a save harbour. internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation), 1(2), 72-87. Retrieved from https://press.wz.uw.edu.pl/ikar/vol1/iss2/7
First Page
72
Last Page
87
Page Count
15
Publisher
University of Warsaw
