Politics, subsidies and competition. The new politics of state intervention in the European Union

Abstract:
Developed from a series of joint papers on the evolution of European competition policy, this book aims to offer a concise account of the political dimensions of the European policy on competition, concentrating in particular on policy on state aid. Exploring facets of the European Union's policy impact on the management of the European economies, the book traces the interplay of political, economic and institutional-legal parameters in the making and enforcement of EU competition policy.

It argues that state subsidy is the only remaining effective form of state intervention because, in the integrated European market, state aid - ranging from investment and export aid to special tax concessions - has become the only instrument that can be used to favour and protect national industries. This makes control of state subsidy more important than ever, and the European Community's attempts to increase this control since the mid-1970s tell an intriguing story of fierce intergovernmental bargaining, business lobbying and increasingly assertive EC/EU institutions. The argument is supported by evidence of the evolution of European policy and by case studies of sectoral aid regimes and their transformation in interaction with EU policy.

The book's core consists of a political analysis of the factors which influence the formation and implementation of EU policy on state aid to manufacturing industry, focusing on the process of policy formation and the development of policy enforcement on the part of the European Commission and four case studies on the emergence of particular state aid regimes in different areas, one horizontal (small business) and three sectoral (airlines, shipbuilding, motor vehicles).

This book will be of use to students and scholars of the economics and politics of Western Europe and regional and public policy.

Contents:
1. Introduction
2. A Story of Restrained Formation and Expansive Enforcement
3. Institutional Framework and Legal Instruments
4. Horizontal and Sectoral Aid Regimes: Cases and Policy Trends
5. The European Politics of State Intervention