TOURISM AND STATE AID 139 -economic activities without complying with State aid rules if they have a proper account separation between the two (groups) of activities. This way, cross- -financing of economic activities can be prevented. Then, the Commission summarised in which cases the measure would not have an impact on trade between the Member States drawing the attention to the fact that, in this respect, each case has to be analysed individually. As a general approach, the Commission accept the local impact and the absence of aid if “(i) the beneficiary supplies goods or services to a limited area within a Member State and is unlikely to attract customers from other Member States and (ii) it cannot be foreseen that the measure would have more than a marginal effect on the conditions of cross-border investments or establishment”. Although this is never a straightforward argumentation, the General Court has already accepted the Commission’s approach in a recent decision related to the public financing of a Slovenian leisure marina76. Further defining the characteristics of local service, the Commission refers to the “catchment area” approach, used in case of airports77 and occasionally hospitals78, to measure from where the facility attracts customers. “The local catchment area shall be determined taking into account the following factors: (i) the location of the infrastructure; (ii) the predominance of local users; (iii) the total capacity of the infrastructure relative to the number of resident users; and (iv) the existence of other tourism-related facilities in the area”. To further fine-tune its interpretation, the Commission added: “Elements to take into account would be whether services are only offered in a limited geographical area, whether there are only a limited number of tourists from other Member States and whether there are providers of similar services from other Member States”. Its leniency towards cultural activities can also be revealed as regards the effect on trade element of the notion of aid, not only as regards the qualification as non-economic activity as its states: “the Commission considers that only funding granted to large and renowned cultural institutions and events which are widely promoted outside their home region has the potential to affect trade between Member States. The Commission has generally held that the restoration of cultural and historical landmarks does not, in most cases, affect intra-Union trade”. 76 See footnote 61. 77 See point 25 (12) of the Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (OJ C 2014 99/03 p. 3). 78 See, for instance, the Commission decision in case SA.37432 (2015/NN) – Czech Republic Funding to public hospitals in the Hradec Králové Region.
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