Forms of Governmental Action: Internal and External Perspectives

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter begins by providing a conclusive critical assessment of the state of the law with respect to the forms of governmental action that constitute a subsidy or a State aid in the WTO and EC, and provides suggestions about whether the law, or its interpretation, should be changed. This critical assessment is carried out from a marked comparative standpoint. The analysis of the similarities and differences between the two disciplines, and the two legal systems as a whole, will help us to better evaluate the correctness of the solutions adopted in each legal system. The analysis is twofold, adopting two different viewpoints. On the one hand, it assesses the regulation of subsidies and State aids ‘in itself’ (which is called ‘internal perspective’), focusing in particular on the concerns about the expansiveness of the definition in terms of forms of governmental actions covered. On the other hand, taking an ‘external perspective’, the chapter briefly looks at the ‘other rules’ that in the two legal systems might apply to the same or similar forms of governmental action and address possible worries about system coherency.