Understanding state aid policy in the European Community. Perspectives on rules and practice

Understanding state aid policy in the European Community. Perspectives on rules and practice:

The overall aim of the European Union's policy on the single market is to ensure the proper functioning of the market by eliminating regulatory and technical barriers to the free movement of goods, services, capital and people. In this context, the continued intervention of the Member States of the EU by granting state aid to support specific activities, sectors or regions is of particular interest.

The main purpose of this book is to explain the principles and methods of European Community state aid policy in a manner which is both accessible and useful to practitioners and policy makers by bringing together contributions from Community and national officials, industry representatives and academics. In particular, it examines both theory on the role and objective of public assistance and current practice controlling such assistance. It addresses the issue of state aid from an economic, legal and administrative perspective and offers detailed information on current practice through case studies. It also considers likely future developments in the Community framework of state aid control.

The contributions are divided into three sections. The first looks at the rules and procedures relating to state aid within the Member States and the Community as a whole. Papers in the second section examine the guidelines relating to horizontal, sectoral and regional aid and the third section looks at future developments in reforming state aid policy. Major weaknesses in the present system of state aid rules are identified and the way forward shown towards a proper economic analysis of the effects of forty years of state aid policy in the European Community.