Implementation of the concept of sustainable development requires the use of a variety of instruments. These instruments may be legal or financial. One of the financial instruments to support sustainable development might be state aid. However, not all aid is beneficial from the point of view of sustainable development. Therefore, an important task is to identify the types of aid that have a positive impact on sustainable development, and on the other hand to show aid which is harmful from the point of sustainable development view. The purpose of this article is to group the principles of sustainable development, in the context of individual order creating sustainable development. The article will also specify the objectives to be achieved by providing different types of support. Then an attempt will be made to answer the question how different types of aid contribute to the achievement of sustainable development.
The purpose of this article is to answer the question whether the state has effective instruments of impact on the banking system in order to reduce the risk which materialization would threaten the entire economy. This aim was achieved by identifying the tools of impact on the banking system used in the European Union, taking into account the distribution of standard instruments and actions which had been taken in response to the events of the last crisis. This analysis indicated that the key role would be played by the instruments created in the banking union. However, this will not limit the role of the state in the banking system, but it will give it a formalized and complex dimension through which it will be possible to react quicker to emerging issues and to reduce the costs of such a solution.
The effects of the economic crisis affected all EU member states. This was particularly evident in the labor market. Countries shall take action to counteract escalating unemployment. Fiscal policy instruments, which are classified as a part of state aid, have been used for that.
The paper analyses the developments in the EU state aid policy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic breakout. The general framework for state aid in the EU was presented. Based on a case study analysis of selected airlines that benefited from state aid following the COVID-19 crisis, changes in the European Commission approach were identified. In general, investigation of arrangements between the state aid cases is a complex (and thus often lengthy) process. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge for EU member states and the European Commission as well due to the unexpected, turbulent, and very profound nature of the crisis. It made it necessary to look for new or revised policies for state aid to respond quickly and keep airlines afloat in times when the flow of revenue was practically stopped. One of the key issues that needed to be addressed was inflexibility and lengthiness of state aid approval processes. To this end, additional guidelines were introduced to make the state aid policy of the EU more flexible. This way member states could respond to the ongoing developments in a more targeted and objective-oriented approach, which possibly made state aid more efficient. It should be stressed that it could have been achieved without changes to pre-existing legislation and by adjusting executive guidelines instead.
The point of departure of EU State aid policy is laid down in the Treaty establishing the European Community (hereinafter the “Treaty”). This Treaty provides that State aid is, in principle, incompatible with the common market. However, the principle of incompatibility does not amount to a full-scale prohibition. In the EU countries state aid is permissible to promote the economic development (of areas where the standard of living is abnormally low or where there is serious underemployment) and to facilitate the development of certain economic activities or certain economic areas (where such aid does not adversely affect trading conditions contrary to the common interest). The provisions of the 2000 Lisbon Strategy and the “Europe 2020” Strategy are also important in determining the directions of state aid in the European Union. According to their assumptions the member countries have been required to: reduce the level of aid relative to GDP; reduce state aid which decreases competition; reorient sectoral aid to horizontal and regional aid; and change the forms of state aid-from passive to active instruments. The purpose of this paper is to present the directions of allocation of state aid in the EU countries during 2000-2011, and answer the question whether the resolutions contained in the Lisbon Strategy have been implemented. The research hypothesis is: have the changes in the size, direction and allocation of state aid taken place in accordance with the resolutions of the Lisbon Strategy.
The hard coal mining industry in the European Union (EU) is in decline, mostly due to a lack of price competitiveness. It is maintained, to a great extent, by state aid; the key objective of the industry’s existence is to provide energy security and guarantee employment in the mining regions. In Poland, the hard coal mining industry is currently undergoing a serious crisis that threatens the two largest mining enterprises with bankruptcy. In addition, due to the European Union’s restrictions concerning the circumstances of granting state aid, these enterprises cannot count on the financial support for the repair restructuring that they used on a large scale until 2011. Therefore, in this article, the main objective is to determine the influence of state aid on the competitiveness of the hard coal mining industry in 12 countries of the EU, including Poland in specific. In order to achieve the stated objective, the article is divided into three parts. The first part consists of a literature review, and legal regulations that are related to state aid for the hard coal mining industry in the EU are presented. The second part identifies the amount of state aid for the mining industry in the examined countries. Next, the economic effects of state aid for hard coal mining in the European Union are examined. The third assesses the financial results of 24 Polish hard coal mines.
Unlike other general principles of EU law, which derive from the CJ jurisprudence, the principle of national identity is based on a clear legal provision. Article 4(2) TEU stipulates that the Union shall respect important State functions, like the territorial integrity of the State, maintaining law and order and safeguarding national security. The list of values covered by the national principle identity is open and it is for the Member State to decide what values should be protected by its national identity, while the CJ is only empowered to determine the relevance of national identity under EU law. This article analyses if the principle of national identity could influence the EC examination of State aid and if the EC should refrain from issuing an order to recover incompatible aid, if that aid was to be protected by the Member State’s national identity. There has not yet been a single judgment by the CJ on that issue and the question stays open. The analysis also focuses on the division of competences between Member States and EU institutions in carrying out that analysis, as well as on the requirements for that analysis, including the scope of an examination carried out by EU institutions.
FR
Contrairement aux autres principes généraux du droit de l’Union européenne, qui découlent de la jurisprudence de la Cour de justice de l’Union européenne, le principe de l'identité nationale est basé sur une disposition légale claire. L’article 4(2) du Traité sur l’Union européenne prévoit que l'Union doit respecter les fonctions essentielles de l'État, comme l'intégrité territoriale de l'État, le maintien de l'ordre public et la sauvegarde de la sécurité nationale. La liste des valeurs couvertes par le principe de l'identité nationale est ouverte et c’est aux États membres de décider quelles valeurs doivent être protégées par son identité nationale, tandis que la Cour de justice de l’Union européenne est uniquement compétente à déterminer la pertinence de l'identité nationale en vertu du droit de l’Union européenne. Cet article analyse si le principe de l'identité nationale pourrait influencer l’examen d’aide d'État par la Commission européenne et si la Commission européenne devrait s'abstenir d’ordonner la récupération de l’aide incompatible, et à la fin si cette aide devait être protégée par l'identité nationale de l'État membre. Vu que jusqu’au présent il n’y avait pas un seul jugement de la Cour de justice de l’Union européenne concernant ce problème, la question reste ouverte. L'analyse entrepris dans cet article se focalise également sur la répartition des compétences entre les États membres et les institutions de l’Union européenne dans le traitement de ce problème, ainsi que sur les exigences pour l’analyse entrepris par l’autorité compétente, y compris sur la portée d'un examen effectué par les institutions de l’Union européenne.
The article discusses the issues connected with the legal aspects of the risk management in agricultural production. It is based on US federal crop insurance system and its programs before and after the reinforcement of the Farm Bill in 2014. The paper presents the development of the insurances’ from the historical point of view and its premises in the scope of agricultural policy. Special attention is given to the basic insurance’s plans and their challenges arising from the regulations. In conclusion, the author attempts to evaluate the US insurance system and points out the differences in the relation to the Polish one. The federal crop insurance program is well-positioned today to promote resilient agricultural practices that mitigate the future impact of production risk.
State aid is one of the wrong ways how to help any private entity when there is no other option, but in certain cases it is necessary from the larger point of view to do so. At least we were used to it especially in cases of big financial (or another) institutions, which are too big to fail, and it might be reasonable to “save” these entities to prevent bigger economic and social loss. For example, when bank fails, then many creditors lose their savings (although there is the deposit guarantee schemes), so they might stop using banking system, many people would lose their jobs (extra social expenses for state). This will all lead to reduce investing money for investors or consumers and that’s basically wrong for economy itself. On the other hand, state aid is highly negative for competition, because all those private entities without any need for state aid are disadvantaged. And finally, its taxpayer’s money, used for state aid and its big state expenditure for any country. The only way how to maintain good and healthy economic system without state aid is prevention. One of the preventions is Single resolution mechanism.
The recently introduced regulations of the New Investment Promotion Act of 10 V 2018 are in line with the trend of the economic legislator’s actions aimed at modernizing the Polish economy and are a direct continuation of the modernization processes initiated by the Act of 20 X 1994 on Special Economic Zones. The legal regulations analyzed in the article constitute an attempt to adjust legal instruments to the changing social and economic reality. The economic administration’s wider use of the legal instruments set out in the New Investment Promotion Act can contribute to faster economic recovery from the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis in this article compares the objectives of the New Investment Promotion Act with those of the Act on Special Economic Zones. The research carried out allows the conclusion that the legislator has significantly modernized the objectives of granting support in the New Investment Promotion Act in relation to the objectives indicated in the Act on special economic zones. At the same time, it was decided not to repeal the Act on Special Economic Zones. The reasons for this decision were the continuation of validity of permits issued under the Act on Special Economic Zones, and performance by entities managing Special Economic Zones of tasks specified in the New Investment Promotion Act. As in the Act on Special Economic Zones, the emphasis is placed on issues related to economic transformation, just as in the New Investment Promotion Act the emphasis is placed on the implementation of objectives related to building an innovative, knowledge-based economy. The objectives of the New Investment Promotion Act should be directly expressed in the Act, although the Act on supporting new investments refers many times to strategic documents in the field of development policy.
This contribution deals with the European Commission’s proposal on the taxation of digital services. The main aim of the contribution is to confirm or disprove the hypothesis that the Digital Service Tax constructed in line with the proposition of the European Commission does interfere with EU state aid law. The research is conducted by applying basic methods of legal science, especially the method of scientific analysis and case law analysis.
EU funds are an opportunity for many players to develop their business and expand the range of services conducted. Sometimes, however, projects carried out by beneficiaries are a breach of rules, as in accordance with article 8 paragraph 3 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008, it is assumed that any assistance to entrepreneurs under the regulation may be granted only in case the act exerts the so-called incentive effect. Hence it can be concluded that the incentive effect is a kind of guarantee that the support is essential and necessary for the subject, and without it, the investment would not be executed. The concept of the incentive effect has not been given its legal definition, but in practice it is assumed that the effect is met if the beneficiary before the investment (the applicant for funding) does not take actions related to the investment for which they request funding. However, some beneficiaries are not aware of the fact that the work undertaken or activities related to the planned investment infringe the principle of incentive and exclude the possibility to obtain funding. Often, controlling procedures against managing and intermediate bodies, as well as implementing institutions, find their final act in court. Processing the complaint, administrative courts make the interpretation of the case, with special attention to when and in what circumstances violation of the incentive effect may have occured and whether the managing authority has made a fair and impartial evaluation of the project, implementing transparent rules.
Wasteful spending of public funds, leading to the creation of “ghost airports”, is often described as a regulatory failure and a major deficiency in European State aid control. It is pointed out that decisions to build or upgrade an airport are often illconceived, poorly implemented, and without economic justification. This raises the question whether European law, namely its State aid control system, contains inherent flaws or whether the European Commission’s decisionmaking process can be improved by increasing reliance on objective economic reasoning under the existing legal framework. This article provides an analysis of the decisionmaking problems leading to failed aid efforts; of the role of the economic approach in State aids; and of the standard of economic assessment required in State aid cases. The article concludes with de lege ferenda postulates.
Zgodnie z założeniami umowy partnerstwa, w okresie programowania 2014-2020 nastąpi zwiększenie wykorzystania instrumentów zwrotnych, w tym instrumentów poręczeniowych. Docelowa wartość portfela poręczeniowo-gwarancyjnego w przyszłym okresie programowania może przekroczyć nawet 10 mld PLN. Konieczne jest więc podejmowanie analiz efektywności zastosowanych instrumentów poręczeniowych współfinansowanych ze środków europejskich, w szczególności w perspektywie 2007-2013. Bazując na danych dotyczących pomocy de minimis udzielonej w ramach systemów poręczeniowych, przeprowadzono m.in. analizę tempa wdrażania i korzyści dla MŚP wynikających z udzielonych gwarancji. Zaprezentowane wyniki odniesiono do zmian prawnych oraz innych wydarzeń mogących mieć wpływ na analizowane zmienne.
EN
In accordance with the assumptions underlying the Partnership Agreement, in the programming period 2014-2020 there will be an increased use of refundable instruments, including credit guarantee instruments. The target value of the credit guarantee portfolio in the future programming period may exceed as much as PLN 10 billion. Thus it is necessary to perform efficiency analyses of the applied credit guarantee instruments co-financed with EU funds, in particular within the Financial Framework 2007-2013. Relying on the data relating to the de minimis support granted within the guarantee systems, an analysis has been performed on the implementation time and benefits of the provided guarantees for SMEs. The presented results were referred to legal changes and other events that may affect the analysed variables.
By issuing its Judgment of 17 November 2017 in case T-263/15 the General Court (Seventh Chamber) (Extracts) in case Gmina Miasto Gdynia and Port Lotniczy Gdynia Kosakowo sp. z o.o. v European Commission, the Court has set aside the previous EC decision as of 26 Feb. 2015 in case 2015/1586, SA.35388 (13/C) (ex 13/NN and ex 12/N) — Poland — Establishment of an airport Gdynia-Kosakowo (OJ 2015, L 250, p. 165). However this judgement does not constitute any ground to deliver any new state aid toward the company managing the airport, and such being considered as compatible with the internal market. The article presents the main up-to-date conditions of granting state aid and shows there are no perspectives for further public financing of the planned transformation of the military airport into an airport of public use.
Economists from centuries have been leading discussions on the role of state in economy. Some of them are in favour of state’s wide interference in economy while others seek to limit the role of the government. One of the arguments for the necessity of state interventionism in the market mechanism is the existence of market failures. However interfering in the market without any restrictions could lead to much greater disturbances than those causing market failures. Therefore significant restrictions are placed on the role of the state in economy. In the European Union a policy of state aid is introduced, which shows when and for what purposes state support may be granted. The main aim of this article is to show how state aid influences on the market failures’ elimination. Provision of state aid is therefore justified by the presence of market failures.
PL
Współczesna sytuacja gospodarcza jest tak skomplikowana, że trudno sobie wyobrazić funkcjonowanie mechanizmu rynkowego w oderwaniu od państwa. Wynika to z faktu, że rynek sam w sobie nie jest doskonały. Ekonomiści wskakują na wiele jego niedoskonałości wśród których do najważniejszych zalicza się zawodność konkurencji, istnienie dóbr publicznych, efekty zewnętrzne, niekompletność rynków, niepełną informację, bezrobocie, inflacja i brak równowagi. Występowanie tych niedoskonałości powoduje, że ekonomiści od wieków toczą dyskusje na temat roli państwa w gospodarce, na temat tego jak szeroki powinien być zakres ingerencji państwa w gospodarkę. Państwo może bowiem przeciwdziałać lub łagodzić występowanie niedoskonałości rynku. Dokonuje tego poprzez swoją interwencję na rynku. Jednym z instrumentów za pomocą których może ingerować w rynek jest pomoc publiczna. Pomoc publiczna może być bowiem instrumentem, który właściwie zastosowany przyczyni się do łagodzenia negatywnych efektów niedoskonałości rynkowych.
Entrepreneurs established (competing with each other) have different prices, technologies and promotional campaigns for clients. However, in the course of the investigation they tax (regardless of position in the market) seem to have the same rights and obligations as a party to. Except for situations in which the tax authority translates any doubt in favour of the taxpayer (in dubio pro tributario). Such proceedings of the tax body aren’t compulsory and in practice is at his discretion. It means that the tax organ can differently treat taxpayers being in similar situations. Action, in which the tax body is granting the sure rights (causing) for individuals making them privileged is having hallmarks of granting the state aid. In exceptional situations such a help is only permitted. Therefore, it was entitled to analyse the application of the principle in dubio pro tributario in the context of the prohibition of state aid. As a result of the investigations undertaken, assumed that the above rule is widespread and there is no legal basis to apply it selectively. Is always when the question relates to the nature of the rights and obligations of the taxpayer. Cases of limiting the realization of the above-mentioned rule exist (e.g. acting of taxpayer in the destination of getting around the fiscal law) but they not have to be initiated by the taxpayer. The tax body can’t decide towards whom to realize this principle. Therefore she doesn’t constitute the state aid. Since explaining vagueness to the benefit of the taxpayer is measuring idea, of demand fully enforcing the general tax law in provisions besides the principle would be justified laws and orders also a principle in dubio pro tributario.
PL
Przedsiębiorcy prowadzący działalność gospodarczą (rywalizując ze sobą) stosują różne ceny, technologie czy akcje promocyjne dla klientów. Jednakże w trakcie postępowania podatkowego podmioty te (niezależnie od pozycji na rynku) wydają się mieć te same prawa i obowiązki jako strona. Wyjątkiem są sytuacje, w których organ podatkowy tłumaczy zaistniałe wątpliwości na korzyść podatnika (in dubio pro tributario). Takie postępowanie organu nie jest obligatoryjne i w praktyce zależy od jego uznania. Oznacza to, że organ podatkowy może różnie traktować podatników znajdujących się w podobnych sytuacjach. Działanie, w którym organ podatkowy przyznaje pewne prawa (przysporzenia) podmiotom, czyniąc je uprzywilejowanymi, nosi znamiona udzielenia pomocy publicznej. Tylko w wyjątkowych sytuacjach taka pomoc jest dozwolona. Dlatego też uprawnione było dokonanie analizy wybranego stosowania zasady in dubio pro tributario w kontekście zakazu udzielania pomocy publicznej. W wyniku podjętych badań przyjęto, że powyższa zasada ma charakter powszechny i nie ma podstaw prawnych aby stosować ją selektywnie. Przysługuje zawsze gdy wątpliwość dotyczy charakteru praw i obowiązków podatnika. Istnieją przypadki ograniczenia realizacji powyższej zasady (np. działanie podatnika w celu obejścia prawa podatkowego) ale nie muszą być one inicjowane przez podatnika. Organ nie może decydować, wobec kogo realizować tę zasadę. Dlatego też nie stanowi ona pomocy publicznej. Ponieważ tłumaczenie niejasności na korzyść podatnika ma wymiar idei (postulatu), w pełni uzasadnionym byłoby wprowadzenie w przepisach Ordynacji podatkowej, obok zasady praworządności, także zasady in dubio pro tributario.
The article provides an analysis of the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU in matters of notification. The analysis is primarily aimed at identification of the normative sources from which the Court derives its conclusions concerning the legal consequences of a breach of notification rules by the Member States and encompasses three notification procedures relating to norms and technical provisions, state aid and matters falling within the competence of the European Central Bank. Apart from general remarks on the evolution of case law in this area, the author examines: the nature of legal consequences that are associated with a breach of the notification rules; the system context of adjudication (findings concerning the provisions of law directly interpreted by the Court or other EU legal acts taken into account in the process of inference); the scope of legal consequences (including the specification of the rules to violation of which these consequences are attributed) as well as the criteria for their attribution. These findings help to assess the position on the legal consequences of a breach of notification duty by a Member State, which is presented in official EU documents. The author verifies the tendency (apparent from the Guide to consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities) to attribute uniform legal consequences of violation of the rules defining various notification procedures.
Difficulty in meeting housing needs, resulting from the economic downturn and current demographic and cultural trends, drew the attention of politicians in the EU to the social housing segment. In recent years it has been reformed to introduce a higher level of efficiency, however, legal and interpretational problems have emerged. First of all, there was a problem of distortion of competition between social housing and privately rented residential properties. The problem of state aid in the context of social housing has been the subject of decisions of the Court of Justice. The aim of the article is to introduce the readers to this issue.
PL
Utrudnione zaspokajanie potrzeb mieszkaniowych, wynikające ze spowolnienia gospodarczego oraz aktualnych trendów demograficzno-kulturowych, zwróciło uwagę polityków w państwach UE na segment mieszkalnictwa społecznego. W ostatnich latach poddany on został reformom mającym wprowadzić wyższy poziom efektywności, jednakże pojawiły się problemy prawno-interpretacyjne. Przede wszystkim powstał problem naruszania zasad konkurencji między mieszkaniami społecznymi, a tymi, które należą do segmentu najmu prywatnego. Problem pomocy publicznej w kontekście mieszkań społecznych był przedmiotem rozstrzygnięć Trybunału Sprawiedliwości. Celem artykułu jest przybliżenie tej problematyki czytelnikom.
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