SUNAJUST

ABSTRACT

It is well-established that the enforcement of EU State aid law by national courts is underdeveloped and faces all kinds of practical and legal difficulties. According to many scholars, this could be explained, amongst others, by the lack of knowledge and expertise of national judges regarding the application of EU State aid law. Against this background, we intend to develop a training programme in which national courts are immersed in their role as European State aid judges. More specifically, we develop a manual as well as blended learning materials and organise two conferences and ten workshops covering all aspects of the role of national courts as enforcers of EU State aid law. In these events, we will tackle, amongst others, the notion of State aid ex Article 107(1) TFEU, the concept of an undertaking, the standstill obligation ex Article 108(3) TFEU, the concept of new and unlawful aid, the notification procedures, the role of the European Commission as public enforcer of EU State aid law, the concept of de minimis aid, the exceptions to the obligation to notify new aid to the Commission (GBER), the role of national courts as enforcers of the EU State aid rules, the cooperation tools provided by EU law to assist them in fulfilling this role, and the State aid Modernisation programme of the Commission. The project, which aims to use a tailor-made State aid manual and several forms of blended learning (e.g. knowledge clips and exercises), thus aims to offer national judges an in-depth training on the enforcement of the EU State aid rules. In order to encourage national judges to participate in the events, the project foresees that all their travel and accommodation costs for the workshops will be reimbursed. In general, we aim to improve judges’ knowledge of EU State aid law and thus contribute to a better enforcement of these rules.

AIM (WHAT)

The enforcement of the EU State aid rules by national courts is still underdeveloped, despite the fact that national courts play a crucial role, for instance by determining whether a specific measure represents unlawful aid. The reasons why enforcement is underdeveloped are various and they include legal and practical difficulties. One of the main challenges is the limited knowledge and experience of national judges with regard to the application of the EU State aid rules. Against this background, the SUNAJUST project aims to set up large-scale training with the goal of informing national judges about all aspects of EU State aid law. This goal will be achieved by means of two key activities: (i) the development and creation of the course materials for the training; and (ii) the organization of conferences and training courses for national judges. These activities will allow SUNAJUST to reach four, high-level objectives: (i) coherent and consistent application and enforcement of the EU State aid rules by national courts; (ii) cooperation among national judges in the field of EU State aid law; (iii) trained pool of national judges that know how to deal with EU State aid law problems; and (iv) useful tools to help judges navigate the complex legal and practical questions about the application of the EU State aid law.

METHODOLOGY (HOW)

The course materials developed by SUNAJUST will include a manual, PowerPoint presentations, knowledge clips, questions to test knowledge, and homework. The manual, in particular, will be a key component of the course materials. It will deal with a number of topics, from notification procedures and services of general economic interest, to legal remedies, tasks of national courts, and cooperation tools. The course materials will be developed using primary sources of EU State aid law, but they will be made accessible and engaging.

The specific training activities organised by SUNAJUST will include: conferences and workshops  organised by the SUNAJUST core team, Caroline Buts, Wout De Cock and Seppe Maes. The target audience of these activities comprises judges, prosecutors, apprentice national judges, and staff of national courts from EU Member States. These stakeholders will be reached by means of tailored communication strategies and availing of different channels.

IMPACT (WHY)

Thanks to the SUNAJUST project, national judges will gain deeper knowledge of the substantive and procedural EU State aid rules, the cooperation mechanisms for national judges in the context of private enforcement of EU State aid law, the Commission’s future State aid policy, and its follow-up to its 2012 State Aid Modernisation. A more coherent implementation of the EU State aid rules by national courts will also have a positive impact on the broader society.