SELECTED PROBLEMS RELATED TO ENFORCEMENT OF EU RULES ABOUT STATE AID GRANTED TO LINKED UNDERTAKING

Evropska unija vodi konkurenčno politiko in z ukrepi, ki jih izvaja, vpliva na gospodarsko rast in globalno konkurenčnost. Pomemben element konkurenčne politike EU so tudi državne pomoči, s katerimi države članice posegajo v delovanje trga ter s tem (lahko) izkrivljajo konkurenco. Državne pomoči so izdatki in zmanjšani prejemki države oziroma občine, ki pomenijo korist za prejemnika pomoči in mu tako zagotavljajo prednost pred konkurenti in so namenjeni za financiranje in sofinanciranje programov v institucionalnih enotah, ki se ukvarjajo s tržno proizvodnjo blaga in storitev z namenom zagotavljanja določene konkurenčne prednosti, kot to opredeljuje 107. člen Pogodbe o delovanju Evropske unije. Z vstopom Slovenije v Evropsko unijo je tudi pri nas tematika državnih pomoči postala aktualna. Le-te lahko v posameznih primerih delujejo kot strup ali zdravilo. Suverenost držav pa je na področju državnih pomoči močno omejena, saj morajo biti državne pomoči, ki izpolnjujejo pogoje, predpisane v Pogodbi o delovanju Evropske unije, načeloma (razen če so izpolnjeni pogoji za to, da priglasitev izjemoma ni potrebna) priglašene Evropski komisiji. Diplomska naloga zajema zgolj del kompleksne problematike državnih pomoči. Posvetila sem se izbranim vprašanjem povezanih oseb v luči problematike državnih pomoči. Ta problematika na ravni evropske zakonodaje ni celovito urejena in predstavlja odprto področje, ki je dovzetno za razprave pravnih strokovnjakov. Tudi praksa Komisije in Sodišča Evropske unije v zvezi s problematiko povezanih oseb se po eni strani zdi nekonsistentna in s tem slabi pravno varnost, po drugi strani pa se postavlja vprašanje, ali so različne odločitve Komisije in Sodišča natančno domišljena poteza. Poleg presoje dodeljene pomoči povezanim osebam dodatno odprto vprašanje predstavlja tudi vračilo protipravne pomoči, kadar je le-ta dodeljena povezani osebi ali družbi, ki je del takšne gospodarske skupine.European Union leads competition policies and with the measures that it carries out, influences the economic growth and global competitiveness. An important element of the competition policy of EU is also the instrument of state aid, which is used by member states to interfere with working of the common market and potentially bend the competition. State aid can be defined as expenses and reduced incomes of the state or the community, which mean a benefit for the recipient and provide him with an advantage with the competition. They are meant for financing and co financing of programs in institutional units, that work in fields of market production and service with the intention of providing competitive advantage as it is stated in the article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. With Slovenia becoming a member of European Union the subject of state aid became more important. State aids can in individual cases work either as poison or medicine. Sovereignty of member states in the field of state aids is heavily limited, as in principle all the state aids that fulfil the conditions required in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (except if special conditions are fulfilled in which case the registration is not required), must be registered with the Commission. My diploma thesis encompasses only a part of a complex problematic of state aids. I concentrated on selected problems related to enforcement of EU rules about state aid granted to linked undertakings. This problematic is not regulated as a whole on the level of European legislation and it represents an open field for debate for legal experts. Also the case law of the Commission and Court of Justice of European Union with its inconsistency is not helping to establish a high level of legal security. But on the other side the contradictory decisions can represent a well taught out move of the Commission and the Court. Besides the judgement of compatibility of the granted aids, also the question of recovery of unlawful aid granted to a linked undertaking or an undertaking which is part of such a group remains open