Italian Court Awards Damages to Beneficiaries for Unlawful Implementation of Aid ∙ Court of Appeal of Cagliari of 13 June 2017 ∙ Annotation by Francesco Maria Salerno and Federico Macchi

Abstract

The case in comment illustrates the application of State aid rules by a national court. Moreover, the case deserves to be brought to the attention of a wide readership because it concerns a rare case of award for damages to the beneficiary of the aid. By adjudicating in favour of the beneficiary, the Italian court recognized the peculiarities of the case at issue. At the same time, the ruling raises general questions of consistency with EU law, which are likely to become even more salient as the cooperation between Commission and national courts in the enforcement of State aid rules increases. Keywords: National courts; Damages; State liability; Legitimate expectations.