Fiscal Autonomy, Investment Funds and State Aid : A Follow-Up

In this paper the author discusses the continuously developing area of State aid. In particular, the article focuses on the application of the European Union's State aid rules towards autonomous regions and investment funds. A March 2009 decision of the European Court of First Instance (CFI) has changed the level playing field for tax schemes available to specialised investment entities like green funds and real estate investment funds (REITs). Moreover attention will be given to the introduction of new tax systems serving as future benchmarks for state aid review, based on the CFI's Gibraltar decision of December 2008. (This decision is currently under review by the European Court of Justice.)