State aid to banks (IVOR nr. 109) 2018/14.1:14.1 The aim of this PhD-study

State aid to banks (IVOR nr. 109) 2018/14.1

14.1 The aim of this PhD-study

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.

Some beneficiary banks felt unjustly treated by the Commission. As explained in chapter 1, there is some doubt whether the principle of equal treatment is respected by the Commission in its bank State aid decisions. This doubt is caused by a lack of clarity. The aim of this PhD-study is to tackle this problem by providing some clarity. In other words: the purpose of this PhD-study is to find a way in which it can be assessed whether a bank State aid decision complies with the principle of equal treatment. The corresponding central research question is thus as follows:

How to assess whether a bank State aid decision complies with the principle of equal treatment?

The aim of this PhD-study is to provide a framework which can be used to establish whether a bank State aid decision complies with the principle of equal treatment. As explained in chapter 6, this framework effectively consists of a list of relevant characteristics. In each bank State aid case, the Commission should take into account these relevant characteristics. Indeed, when these relevant characteristics are consistently taken into account by the Commission, then the decisional practice of the Commission complies with the principle of equal treatment. Thus, the only way of assessing whether a bank State aid decision complies with the principle of equal treatment is by checking whether the relevant characteristics are taken into account by the Commission. The list of relevant characteristics can serve as a ‘check list’, which can be used by the Commission as well as by the Member State and beneficiary bank.

While the aim of this PhD-study is forward-looking (i.e. providing a framework which can be used for future cases), the analysis is backward-looking (i.e. analysing previous bank State aid cases). The analysis of the previous decisional practice is relevant for future cases. In the first place, the list of the relevant characteristics is formed on the basis of the analysis of the decisional practice. In the second place, the analysis of the Commission decisions may reveal certain shortcomings in the decisional practice. Indeed, the analysis of the decisional practice has revealed that there are several relevant characteristics that are not consistently taken into account by the Commission. In future cases, extra attention should be paid to these relevant characteristics.

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