State aids and Public service obligations in the European Competition Law. The application of the PSO on islands.
Chapter
Publication Date:
2015
Short description:
State aids and Public service obligations in the European Competition Law. The application of the PSO on islands / Carta, Maria Cristina. - (2015), pp. 1-10.
abstract:
This paper examines the complex issues regarding the relationship between the EU transport policy
and its competition policy. In this context the public service obligations (PSO) – which in EU law are subject to
detailed regulation, currently contained almost exclusively in EC Regulation n. 1008/2008 – meet the need to
strike a balance between a general liberalization of air transport and a policy capable of ensuring compatibility
with European aid Treaties, which are drawn up to guarantee the conduct of a public service. The PSO, in fact,
involve a certain number of exceptions to the principle of free competition for disadvantaged or peripheral areas
in order to avoid their progressive marginalization. Starting from a reconstruction of the principles which inspired
the European transport policy, this paper focuses on the fundamental distinction between State aids (illegal) and
the simple compensation of public service obligations (compatible with European regulations), by describing the
legislation in force, the doctrine and the case law of the European Court of Justice. Finally, the article analyzes
the issue of the application of the PSO on islands on the basis of the principles – although they are not always
consistently applied – provided by the Treaties in order to ensure for these regions the territorial continuity they
richly deserve.
and its competition policy. In this context the public service obligations (PSO) – which in EU law are subject to
detailed regulation, currently contained almost exclusively in EC Regulation n. 1008/2008 – meet the need to
strike a balance between a general liberalization of air transport and a policy capable of ensuring compatibility
with European aid Treaties, which are drawn up to guarantee the conduct of a public service. The PSO, in fact,
involve a certain number of exceptions to the principle of free competition for disadvantaged or peripheral areas
in order to avoid their progressive marginalization. Starting from a reconstruction of the principles which inspired
the European transport policy, this paper focuses on the fundamental distinction between State aids (illegal) and
the simple compensation of public service obligations (compatible with European regulations), by describing the
legislation in force, the doctrine and the case law of the European Court of Justice. Finally, the article analyzes
the issue of the application of the PSO on islands on the basis of the principles – although they are not always
consistently applied – provided by the Treaties in order to ensure for these regions the territorial continuity they
richly deserve.
Iris type:
2.1 Contributo in volume (Capitolo o Saggio)
Keywords:
European competition policy, State aids, Public service obligations, territorial cohesion, principle
of insularity, territorial continuity
List of contributors:
Carta, Maria Cristina
Book title:
Conference Proceedings, IRC- 2015 International Research Conference on Business, Economics and Social Sciences IRC DUBAI - U.A.E. 2015