The prospect of decentralization in State aid control has been traditionally viewed with scepticism, mostly due to the high potential of political influence at the national level. It has also been regarded as a threat to the consistency and uniformity of the application of State aid rules. In that relation, the European Commission has been granted an institutional 'monopoly' with regard to the assessment of compatibility of State aid measures. While national courts perform some, albeit limited, role in State aid control, national competition authorities have not been vested by EU law with any tasks with regard to examination of State aid. In the area of services of general economic interest, however, there are signs that the decentralization process is already under way. The adoption of the Altmark judgment, and more importantly, the increasing role of Member States in examining State aid compatibility under Article 106(2)TFEU show that, in the future, national authorities could exercise a more substantial and active role in the enforcement of State aid rules.
World Competition