competitionlaw

By the decision handed down in the Laappeenranta Airport case [1] , the European Commission has ruled that the operating aid granted by the Finnish authorities to the airport manager fulfilled the compatibility conditions for operating aid set out by the 2014 Aviation Guidelines [2] . Therefore, the Commission approved the financial support to the Laappeenranta Airport . The objected national measure The Laappeenranta Airport is a small publicly owned airport in South-Eastern Finland near the Russian border. After the cease of the previous scheduled flights, the airport is currently served only by charter flights with a volume of annual passengers of roughly 35,000. In 2016 the Finnish authorities submitted a business plan for the development of the airport over the 2016-2024 period. To this end, Finland granted operating aid to the Laappeenranta Airport. The awarded public fund was limited to 80% of the initial operating funding gap for the 2016-2019 period. The Finnish autho...

In the Saarbrücken Airport case [1] , the Commission has approved a package of investment aid and operating aid the Germany authorities granted to the manager of the Saarbrücken Airport (FHS). The Commission found that the public aid to FHS fulfilled the compatibility conditions set out by the 2014 Aviation Guidelines [2] for investment aid and operating aid. Hence, the national measures under scrutiny were found to be compatible with the internal market . The facts of the case The entire equity capital of FHS was owned by Saarland through a wholly owned subsidiary. In November 2016, Germany notified the Commission a set of investment aid and operating aid in favour of FHS. The investment aid was aimed to fund a renovation and conversion works at the airport. The aim of operating aid was to cover the losses suffered from FHS in the operation of the airport. The decision of the ICA In the view of the Commission, the public aid granted by Saarland to FHS constituted Stat...

In the Case I816 Servizi di raccolta e gestione dei rifiuti sanitari in Campania the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened a new Article 101 TFEU targeting a bid rigging practice allegedly implemented by six suppliers in the health sector. The ICA started the investigation following the receipt of a complaint lodged by Soresa. Soresa is the public body entrusted with the procurement of the requirements of the health system of the region of Campania. In July 2016 it launched for the first time a competitive tender procedure for the collection and the treatment of the wastes produced by the hospitals belonging to the regional health system of Campania. The tendered out contract was divided in six lots. Soresa noted anomalies in the offers submitted by six bidders. They drafted their bids in identical terms. Moreover, they did not make overlapping bids as each of them bid only for a lot. The ICA had concern that the six bidders may have entered into a collusion with the view...