Revision of the Commission notice on the enforcement of State aid rules by national courts

ClientEarth argues that the revised Notice should explicitly allow NGOs and individuals to challenge State aid measures that breach environmental law and should emphasize the need for greater transparency in aid granting to facilitate private enforcement. While maintaining that the Commission holds exclusive competence to assess the overall compatibility of aid with the internal market, the document suggests that national courts can provide critical evidence of environmental violations to assist the Commission. It further highlights systemic failures in the EU State aid Transparency Register, noting missing data for Member States such as Romania and Cyprus.

• ClientEarth recommends that the revised Notice explicitly state that NGOs and individuals have a legal interest in bringing actions for damages, suspension, or recovery of aid measures that breach legal obligations, specifically including environmental law.
• The document asserts that while the European Commission has exclusive competence to determine if an aid measure is compatible with the internal market, national courts are well-positioned to assess substantive violations of environmental law and should use these findings to assist the Commission.
• Lack of transparency regarding granted aid is identified as a primary barrier to private enforcement, as it makes it difficult for claimants to prove the market impact of aid in damage claims.

APA

ClientEarth (2021). Revision of the Commission notice on the enforcement of State aid rules by national courts. https://www.clientearth.org/media/30bhp5mc/clientearth-contribution-to-the-revision-of-the-notice-on-the-enforcement-of-state-aid-rules-by-national-courts_16-04-2021.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Revision of the Commission notice on the enforcement of State aid rules by national courts. 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/30bhp5mc/clientearth-contribution-to-the-revision-of-the-notice-on-the-enforcement-of-state-aid-rules-by-national-courts_16-04-2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Revision of the Commission notice on the enforcement of State aid rules by national courts |date=April 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/30bhp5mc/clientearth-contribution-to-the-revision-of-the-notice-on-the-enforcement-of-state-aid-rules-by-national-courts_16-04-2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2021revision, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Revision of the Commission notice on the enforcement of State aid rules by national courts}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/30bhp5mc/clientearth-contribution-to-the-revision-of-the-notice-on-the-enforcement-of-state-aid-rules-by-national-courts_16-04-2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }