Checks and balances in EU State aid procedures: should more be done to protect the rights of aid recipients and third parties?

Abstract

A recent Advocate General’s Opinion in the long-running Scott Paper saga has again called into question the procedural fairness of the European Commission’s State aid procedures. This paper examines issues of due process in State aid cases and suggests that it may now be time to consider fundamental procedural reform. Issues discussed include the limited rights afforded to aid recipients and interested third parties, the often excessive length of State aid procedures, and the inadequacy of the appeals process. We submit that modern State aid enforcement calls for procedural reform.