66 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM compatibility with the Single Market, and if the conclusion is positive, that the recipient may keep the aid. In the meantime, there is still a risk that competitors seize the national courts and ask for the temporary recovery of illegal State aid pending the Commission’s investigation. The state aid rules have been instrumental in the tourism sector. Regional actors of the Member States, tour operators, airports, airlines, land transport companies, cultural landmarks and tourist attractions, key tourist infrastructures – all have benefited from some sort of public assistance and will need to be vigilant on the future evolution of this important domain of the EU law. It remains to be seen whether, and to what extent, the State aid rules can contribute to compensate for the losses due to the coronavirus epidemy, which affect the tourism sector more than most others. 7.1. Core elements of state aid a) Intervention by the State or through State resources – The aid must be granted directly or indirectly through State resources and be imputable to the State234. In practice, this includes a variety of forms, such as direct grants, interest and tax reliefs, guarantees or providing goods and services on preferential terms. If the support is provided directly by the EU or international financial institutions, thus with no discretion on the part of national authorities, it is not considered to be a State resource. b) Advantage – Within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU, an advantage is any economic benefit which an undertaking would not have obtained in the ordinary course of business, thus being financially better off with, rather than without, the measure235. Economic transactions carried out by a public entity do not constitute aid nor an advantage if they are carried out following the normal market conditions, thus, when the State gives loans at commercial rates, it is not considered an advantage in the sense of the State aid provisions. c) Selectivity – According to Article 107(1), the aid is selective if it favours “certain undertakings or the production of certain goods”. In other words, the selective measure is capable of affecting (de jure or de facto) the competitive 234 Case C-482/99, France v Commission (“StardustMarine”), Judgment of 16May 2002, ECLI:EU:C:2002:294, para. 24. 235 Philipp Werner, Vincent Verouden, EU State Aid Control: Law and Economics, Kluwer Law International, Alphen aan den Rijn, 2017, p. 17.
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