European Competition Law provides a wide-ranging review of the European rules relating to competition: restrictive agreements, abuse of a dominant position, impact of intellectual property rights, procedure, merger control, State aid.

European Competition Law

The general principle of prohibition laid down in Article 107(1) TFEU includes exemptions which will make it possible to find that certain State aid are compatible with the internal market.

Article 107(2) defines three categories of aid which are compatible ipso jure:

- aid to make good the damages caused by natural disasters or exceptional occurrences,

- aid granted to the economy of certain areas of the Federal Republic of Germany affected by the division of Germany.

The Commission may have to supervise such aid but its supervision is limited to check whether it meets the legal definition. In effect, such aid is interpreted narrowly and the Commission must authorize it where the conditions of granting are met .

Article 107(3) lists aid that might be subject to facultative exemptions left to the Commission's discretion:

- aid to promote the execution of an important project of common European interest or to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State,

- aid to facilitate the development of certain economic activities or of certain economic regions,

- aid to promote culture and heritage conservation.

Lastly, in fine, the article provides for the possibility for the Council to hold compatible other categories of aid by decision and on a proposal from the Commission.

To facilitate individual assessment, the Commission has classified State aid by category - regional aid, sectoral aid, horizontal aid -, and published guidelines specifying their conditions of compatibility with the internal market. Furthermore, it has adopted a general block exemption regulation which enables the Member States to grant aid without prior notification where the conditions laid down in the document are met. Lastly, aid which does not meet any of the conditions laid down in the Altmark decision (see No 23.26) is nevertheless liable to be held compatible with the internal market under Article 106(2) TFEU.

Case C-278/00 Greece v Commission [2004] ECR 3997, LawLex200500004503JBJ.

396. Ipso jure or facultative compatibility