Tourism and State Aid Péter Staviczky1 Abstract; 1. Introduction; 2. The Principles of State Aid Control; 2.1. What is State aid is and what it is not; 2.2. When is State aid is compatible with the internal market?; 3. The State Aid Jurisprudence Related to the Tourism Sector; 3.1. Touristic services and services of general economic interest, the SNCM case; 3.2. The judgment issued in the Dilly’s Wellnesshotel case, the interpretation of block exemptions; 3.3. The judgments in the Comitato “Venezia vuole vivere” cases; 3.4. The HGA judgment, the importance of the incentive effect; 3.5. The A&O hostel and hotel case, the Commission’s duties during the compatibility assessment; 4. Commission Decisions Related to the Tourism Sector; 5. State Aid Rules Applicable in the Tourism Sector; 6. Conclusions. Abstract In the absence of specific State aid rule for the tourism sector, the discovery of the applicable approach to specific State measures serving touristic purposes requires to have a more indepth look into the jurisprudence of the EU Courts and the decisional practice of the European Commission. This paper shortly summarises the principles of State aid control, proceeding to present a wide range of judgments and cases in which the public financing of touristic projects was at stake. Lastly, the paper summarises the recent informal document of the Directorate General for Competition on State aid and tourism. Taking all these sources into account, the main State aid policy messages related to the tourism sector can be outlined. Keywords: State aid, compatibility of aid, jurisprudence, Commission decision. 1 Attaché responsible for State aid at the Hungarian Permanent Representation to the EU. The article does not reflect the official opinion of the Hungarian Government. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
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