The Protection of Legitimate Expectations in the Recovery of State Aid: On the Brink of a European and National Principle?

Abstract

The principle of legitimate expectations is a general principle, recognized by the European Union and a large number of her Member States. However, there is not a semantic uniformity in the European legal order. This literature review will focus from a comparative perspective on the principle of legitimate expectations as it exists in Belgian, Dutch and Union Law, applied to the recovery procedure of State aid, where procedural autonomy is conceded to member states. The corollary of this multi-layered judicial process is a tension between the European and the national interpretation of legitimate expectations. The central issue in this literature review can be posed as follows: How is the legitimate expectations principle interpreted and applied in the EU, the Netherlands and in Belgium? How do they interact in the recovery procedure of State aid and what are their mutual influences?