Keywords
EU law, state aid, rescue aid, restructuring aid, airlines, air transport, compensatory measures, compensation
Abstract
State aid has always been present in the airline industry. From the perspective of competition law, the fact that an undertaking was forced to apply for public support is something unwanted, but certainly not unprecedented. The European Commission is of the opinion that every aid measure disrupts competition and thus that a certain compensatory action is required. These compensatory measures involve the scaling-down of parts of commercially viable operations. They are meant to stimulate the competitive process and to minimize the negative effects of the aid in question. This paper analysed both the regulatory regime and the impact of the discussed measures, including the possibility of their amendment. In the air transport sector, compensation takes the form of a reduction of the service offering. This translates into fleet culling, withdrawal from profitable routes and the divestiture of slots at coordinated airports. The issue under consideration is presented from the standpoint of the impact of compensatory measures on the overall competitiveness of the airline industry as well as in the context of the values of social market economy upon which the EU’s economic model is built. The article closes with conclusions de lege ferenda formulated in the light of the EU’s ongoing State Aid Modernisation Plan.
Recommended Citation
Kociubiński, J. (2014). Compensatory Reduction of Service Offering in Rescue and Restructuring Aid for Airlines in EU Law – Impact Assessment, Outlook for Change. internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation), 3(1), 8-23. Retrieved from https://press.wz.uw.edu.pl/ikar/vol3/iss1/1
First Page
8
Last Page
23
Page Count
15
Publisher
University of Warsaw
