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State Aid home page
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Complaints About State Aid |
Complaints by UK industry about alleged
unfair aid
If a UK company believes that a competitor is receiving illegal aid
then they should complain directly to the Commission on the
Complaint form. The Commission is obliged under the Procedural
Regulation to act on any evidence of potential illegal aid and will
therefore take complaints seriously.
Member State or interested party
complaints
Any Member State or interested party can challenge a
Commission decision in the European Court of Justice. (Article 230
of the EC Treaty).
Member States have an automatic right to bring such
cases to the Court, or to intervene in a case before the Court.
Other interested parties, such as companies
contesting a Commission decision to approve aid for a competitor,
need to show they have a legitimate interest or locus standi.
The Court has precedent as to when a third party can
intervene and any company wishing to challenge a Commission decision
could do so directly or if they wish could seek their own legal
advice as soon as possible.
To challenge a decision successfully means proving
that the Commission infringed an essential procedural requirement or
misused its powers in the way it reached a decision. It is not
enough merely to disagree with a decision. One has to show that had
the Commission followed its own obligation and procedures properly -
including properly considering the relevant facts - it could not
have reached the decision it did.
A challenge to a decision has to be made within
two months of Member States or interested parties being notified
of the decision. Anyone wishing to challenge a decision can do so by
contacting the Commission directly.
Commission or another Member State complaint against a Member State
The Commission or another Member State may also bring
a claim to the European Court of Justice that a Member State has
failed to fulfil its obligations or to comply properly with a
Commission decision.
Article 88(2) allows the Commission or a Member State
to refer directly to the ECJ if at the end of the Commission’s
investigation, its decision is not being complied with.
Complaints referred by national courts
The European Court of Justice also considers cases
referred to it by national courts under Article 234. Member States
may submit written observations and may appear at the hearing even
if they did not submit written observations.
Article 88(2) allows the Commission or a Member
State to refer directly to the ECJ if at the end of the
Commission’s investigation, its decision is not being complied
with.
The Commission and the Court have the power to fine
Member States for not complying with decisions.
Commission complaints about UK aid
The Commission may also receive a complaint, or
itself raise a concern about a proposed UK State Aid payment or
scheme that it may have heard about through the media. The
Commission would then ask the UK for a detailed explanation within a
set time. The Commission would be legally within its powers to open
an Article 88(2) formal investigation procedure, backed by an
injunction to halt any current aid payments, if it was not satisfied
with the UK response.
State Aid Branch can advise on the best way to handle
Commission complaints.
It is important to fully satisfy the Commission’s
enquiries, so that it can put a convincing case to the complainant
that no further action need be taken. The complainant may otherwise
pursue the matter in the national courts.
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Consequences and
Penalties |
The Commission monitors and controls State Aid in the EU by requiring Member States to notify the Commission in advance of
proposed State Aid. This gives the Commission the opportunity to
approve or refuse to approve the proposed State Aid.
The Procedure Regulation
(659/99) defines unlawful aid as unnotified aid.
Under the present procedural rules, the Commission is
under the obligation to order the recovery from the beneficiaries of
any unlawful aid that is found to be incompatible with the Common
Market. This includes repayment with interest to the public
authorities.
The obligation under Article 88(3) of the Treaty to
notify proposed State Aid or changes to existing approved State Aid
is directly enforceable in Member States’ courts.
Only the European Court of Justice has competence to
review the legality of the Commission’s decisions and actions in
controlling State Aid.
National courts uphold the rights of persons in the
event of a breach by national authorities of the ban on putting
State Aid into effect without Commission approval. The courts must
take steps on the question of the validity of decisions and recovery
of unlawful aid.
The Commission and the Court have the power to fine
Member States for not complying with decisions.
Contact
 Regulations
and Forms
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