Download This PaperFrom Market Integration to Fiscal Discipline: Analysing the Goals of EU State Aid Policy from an Economic Perspective
Regulatory Reform in China and EU: A Law and Economic Perspective”, edited by Stefan Weishaar, Niels Philipsen and Wenming Xu and published by Edward Elgar (2017), 139-162.
24 Pages Posted: 10 Oct 2016 Last revised: 24 Feb 2019
Date Written: October 10, 2016
Abstract
This chapter discusses the rationale for State aid control as part of competition law. Like in other areas of EU competition law, such as abuse of dominance and merger control, there is a clear shift towards a ‘more economic approach’ and a stronger focus on efficiency. However, this stronger focus on efficiency with regard to a politically sensitive area such as State aid is not self-evident, and also raises the question why other jurisdictions do not have a similar control on market intervention by States (US) or provinces (China). It also raises the question whether controlling the efficiency of government spending should be a task of the EU rather than Member States. The aim of this paper is therefore to critically assess the changing goals of EU State aid policy, from market integration and equity to efficiency and fiscal discipline.
Keywords: State aid, Fiscal discipline, Goals of competition policy, Economics of federalism
JEL Classification: K21, K33, L44, L51
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