State aid to banks (IVOR nr. 109) 2018/8.1.4:8.1.4 The relative importance of the two stages of the assessment

State aid to banks (IVOR nr. 109) 2018/8.1.4

8.1.4 The relative importance of the two stages of the assessment

Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.

As explained above, the compatibility-assessment used to comprise two stages. In the first stage, the Commission was quite lenient: in none of the cases, the Commission concluded that the State aid was not appropriate, necessary or proportionate. In the literature, it has been remarked that “the EU largely rubber- stamped almost all of the interventions made by Member States to support their domestic banking industries”.1

By contrast, in the second stage of the assessment (when the Commission assesses the restructuring plan), the approach of the Commission can be characterised as strict: in all cases, remedies were required. Thus, the Commission could afford to be lenient in the first stage, because the Commission took into account that it would be strict in the second stage.

As a consequence, the second stage of the compatibility-assessment is much more important than the first stage. This is reflected by the fact that this PhD- study contains three chapters that are devoted to the second stage of the assessment (i.e. chapters 11, 12 and 13), and only one chapter devoted to the first stage of the assessment (i.e. the present chapter).

Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.