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Ismer, Roland; Piotrowski, Sophia --- "Relationship of fiscal State aid and the fundamental freedoms" [2020] ELECD 177; in HJI Panayi, Christiana; Haslehner, Werner; Traversa, Edoardo (eds), "Research Handbook on European Union Taxation Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020) 450

Book Title: Research Handbook on European Union Taxation Law

Editor(s): HJI Panayi, Christiana; Haslehner, Werner; Traversa, Edoardo

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 21

Section Title: Relationship of fiscal State aid and the fundamental freedoms

Author(s): Ismer, Roland; Piotrowski, Sophia

Number of pages: 23

Abstract/Description:

In this chapter, Roland Ismer and Sophie Piotrowski explore the relationship between fiscal State aid and the fundamental freedoms. Both are fundamental principles that underpin the internal market which is at the core of the EU. Both prohibit discriminatory practices by Member States. The authors describe the conditions and criteria applied in the context of each discrimination rule and argue that they are, in fact, subject to limited metaconvergence: even where the principles underlying each rule appear the same, such as the principle of nondiscrimination or the principle of proportionality, their concrete meaning is subtly different under the fundamental freedoms, on the one hand, and State aid law, on the other. The authors analyse the question of a potential hierarchical order between the two. After a thorough discussion of existing case law and literature, they argue that fundamental freedoms ought to prevail in the majority of cases, where their application resolves the discrimination at issue. At the same time, State aid rules often take precedence before national courts. Concluding their analysis, the authors then point towards key differences in the procedure of enforcing both sets of rules.