The Combined Application of the Fundamental Freedoms and the EU State aid Rules: In Search of a Way Out of the Maze

Abstract:

With this article, the author aims at investigating the possible combined application of the fundamental freedoms and the EU State aid rules. The author takes as a concrete example two regional Belgian tax measures, namely the Flemish winwinloan-regime and the Walloon CIW-regime.

First, some general issues regarding fiscal State aid are considered, in order to provide the reader with the background necessary to understand the reasoning in the following sections of the article. Next, the author investigates the Belgian regional tax regimes on their compatibility with EU law. In a last and main part, the combined application of the fundamental freedoms and the EU State aid rules and its consequences are considered.