Conflicts Between the Disciplines of EC State Aids and WTO Subsidies: Of Books, Ships and Aircraft

Abstract: This article examines the differences between the regulation of state aids in the EC and subsidies in the WTO, which create conflicts between the two systems. In particular, the sources of conflicts between the EC state aid rules and the WTO rules on subsidies are found, on the one hand, in the different scope of both regulations (i.e. the different definitions of ‘state aid’ and ‘subsidy’) and, on the other hand, in the different objectives that they pursue, as a result of which the EC authorizes state aids that constitute prohibited subsidies according to Article 3 of the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) or subsidies that can be actionable if they negatively affect the interests of another WTO Member, according to Article 5 of the ASCM. The negative consequences that these conflicts imply for the EC and its Member States from the international perspective will also be addressed.