Advantage is one of the four cumulative criteria that determine whether the EU state aid regime is applicable. Here we look at advantage in relation to compensation for public service obligations. In its Altmark ruling of 2003 the CJEU has fashioned a four part test that, if met, means that the...

This chapter argues that the mandatory nature of the environmental integration principle has important procedural and substantive implications for the area of State aid law and policy. The requirement to integrate environmental protection requirements into all stages of state aid law and...

One of the criticisms against the new rules applicable to the granting of State aid to finance the provision of services of general economic interest in the "Almunia package" is that enforcement is likely to be their weakest point. Similarly, in the more general setting of the "private"...