Ochrona środowiska jako cel uzasadniający pomoc inwestycyjną na rzecz portów lotniczych

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to determine whether and under what circumstances environmental protection can be considered as an objective of common interest justifying investment aid to airports. It begins by presenting the principles for examining the compatibility of investment aid to airports with EU law. In this context, the main focus will be on a comparative analysis of the two guidelines issued by the European Commission on eligibility conditions for such aid. It then outlines the development of the concept of environmental protection in the EU legal order. It also discusses the most important environmental impacts of airports, and methods to reduce the negative effects of their operation. The next section reviews the Commission’s main State Aid decisions on improving the environmental performance of airports, allowing us to draw conclusions on how such investments are assessed in practice. The main goal of this section is to critically examine the Commission’s current approach to assessing pro‑environmental investments at airports. The analysis leads to the formulation of two postulates of de lege ferenda. The first proposes adding a fourth objective of common interest concerning environmental protection to point 84 of the Guidelines on State Aid to Airports and Airlines. The paper then outlines the reasons for this change, which will, in particular, provide an appropriate legal basis for the approval of pro‑environmental State Aid and enhance legal certainty for both aid providers and beneficiaries. It will also reflect how environmental protection is rising up the agenda of the European Union, and help to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal. The addition of an environmental objective will also aid EU cohesion. The second postulate indicates the need to change the way in which the eligible objectives of investment aid to airports are set out, from points to exemplary. The paper argues that the inclusion of only three eligible objectives of common interest for investment aid to airports leads to a limitation of the scope of Article 107(3)(c) TFEU; it is therefore incompatible with EU law.