The role and importance of monitoring state aid in case‑law practice

Abstract

The institution of state aid at the level of European Union law, as well as national law, constitutes an important element of state support for entrepreneurs. Both EU and Polish lawmakers stipulate the necessity to apply the relevant general principles, in particular the principle of transparency, along with the legal solutions and institutions constituting their particularisation. This allows for the maintenance of balance between the implementation of the state’s tasks in supporting entrepreneurs and ensuring appropriate conditions for competition and equal treatment of participants. One such solution is the monitoring of state aid provided for in the provisions of the law of 30 April 2004 on proceedings in matters

relating to state aid, which, according to its Article 31(3), is a system of standardised tools allowing for the collection, processing and transfer of information on the state aid granted. In particular this is on its types, forms and volume, as well as compliance with the national limit for the cumulative amount of de minimis aid in agriculture or fisheries. The statutory regulation on monitoring state aid is supplemented by ordinances issued on the basis of statutory authorisations, detailing monitoring solutions including those providing for organisational solutions and those based on information technology. The main ob- jective of this article is to present these solutions for monitoring state aid and to assess whether, in their current form, they serve to implement the principle of transparency. The issue will be presented primarily using the dogmatic-legal method, taking into account the current state of the law, views on the doctrine and examples from case-law practice.