Neutrality and Equality Aspects in the EU State Aid Temporary Framework 2020: The Case of the Airline Industry

Kasser Kevin () and Solarte-Vasquez Maria Claudia ()
Additional contact information
Kasser Kevin: Department of Law, School of Business and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate tee 5, Tallinn 19086, Estonia
Solarte-Vasquez Maria Claudia: Department of Law, School of Business and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate tee 5, Tallinn 19086, Estonia

TalTech Journal of European Studies, 2022, vol. 12, issue 1, 99-122

Abstract: Following the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, the restrictions imposed by the Member States (MSs) of the European Union (EU) led the tourism and commercial air transport industry to face serious financial difficulties that required airlines to apply for state support. In March 2020, the European Commission adopted a State Aid Temporary Framework (TF) for the COVID-19 period to simplify the process of granting aid, allowing the MSs rapid economic interventions. Claims regarding the approval of State aid to certain airlines reached the EU General Court (EGC), on the grounds of violation of the fair competition principle. It became clear that the processes enabled by the TF dispensed unequal treatment to airline companies and that the flexibility of the TF created competition imbalances. In spite of these events, little attention has been given to the way its application ignores the requirements of EU State aid control and other procedural justice and fairness principles, by failing to ensure neutrality and equality. This article addresses the matter using a standard legal interpretive approach to explain the imbalances created by the regulation. It presents a systematic review of the current regime, identifies the TF inefficiencies affecting competition principles, and argues for specific adjustments that could enhance its transparency. These contributions are useful to improve the existing framework and help prepare for a better management of future crises.

Keywords: airline industry; COVID-19; European Union; fair competition principle; procedural justice; State Aid Temporary Framework; transparency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2478/bjes-2022-0005 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:bjeust:v:12:y:2022:i:1:p:99-122:n:6

DOI: 10.2478/bjes-2022-0005

Access Statistics for this article

TalTech Journal of European Studies is currently edited by Tanel Kerikmäe and Matti Rudanko

More articles in TalTech Journal of European Studies from Sciendo
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Golla ().