<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The EU State Aid regulation is based on the premise that the market and the entities within it must operate independently without additional unnecessary intervention by the state. In other words, state intervention must be kept to a minimum. Unjustified aid to one or another entity may distort the situation in the market and lead to a number of undesirable consequences, including market advantage acquired by the aided entity. The willingness of the state and its institutions to help those who face difficulties may be understandable, but not always justified. However, the prohibition on a state and its institutions to grant aid is not unconditional and, in some cases, may cause serious undesired consequences. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which hit EU member states in the first half of 2020, led to a re-thinking of the rules in force and a broadening of the scope for state aid exemptions. However, there are a number of questions about the nature of the EU State Aid regulation and its correlation with COVID-19 outbreak-conditioned decisions. The article analyses the state aid granting practices across the EU (including the UK) related to COVID-19. It covers approximately two- year period—from the start of the pandemic in Europe to March 2022.</p>
</abstract>

The EU State Aid regulation is based on the premise that the market and the entities within it must operate independently without additional unnecessary intervention by the state. In other words, state intervention must be kept to a minimum. Unjustified aid to one or another entity may distort the situation in the market and lead to a number of undesirable consequences, including market advantage acquired by the aided entity. The willingness of the state and its institutions to help those who face difficulties may be understandable, but not always justified. However, the prohibition on a state and its institutions to grant aid is not unconditional and, in some cases, may cause serious undesired consequences. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which hit EU member states in the first half of 2020, led to a re-thinking of the rules in force and a broadening of the scope for state aid exemptions. However, there are a number of questions about the nature of the EU State Aid regulation and its correlation with COVID-19 outbreak-conditioned decisions. The article analyses the state aid granting practices across the EU (including the UK) related to COVID-19. It covers approximately two- year period—from the start of the pandemic in Europe to March 2022.

COVID-19 Affected State Aid Provision in the EU

Lecturer, Dr. Mykolas Romeris University, Faculty of Public Governance and Business

Partnership Professor Mykolas Romeris University

Associate Professor, Dr. Mykolas Romeris University

Baltic Journal of Law & Politics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"COVID-19 Affected State Aid Provision in the EU"}

The EU State Aid regulation is based on the premise that the market and the entities within it must operate independently without additional unnecessary...

COVID-19 Affected State Aid Provision in the EU

Published Online: Jan 07, 2023

Page range: 98 - 116

Received: Apr 04, 2022

Accepted: Jul 08, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjlp-2022-0005

Keywords
EU competition law, state aid, coronavirus disease (COVID-19), pandemic, exemptions, distortion, impact

© 2022 Andrius Puksas et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

COVID-19 Affected State Aid Provision in the EU

Published Online: Jan 07, 2023

Page range: 98 - 116

Received: Apr 04, 2022

Accepted: Jul 08, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjlp-2022-0005

KeywordsEU competition law, state aid, coronavirus disease (COVID-19), pandemic, exemptions, distortion, impact

© 2022 Andrius Puksas et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
EU competition law, state aid, coronavirus disease (COVID-19), pandemic, exemptions, distortion, impact