The competence of the EC to Review State Aid Measures - Role of EU Member States and Situation of Beneficiaries

State aid in the European Union has become one of the most important areas of competition law (perhaps it may even be regarded a separate area of law), although it is based only on a few provisions of primary EU law. These are Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)1 , which define the scope of the competence, substance and procedure in this area of law, as well as the institutions responsible for its implementation, including the review of granted state aid. This article focuses on the issues relating to the application of the rules on competence and procedure in order to determine the extent of the powers of the European Commission (‘EC’ or ‘Commission’) as regards the freedom to grant state aid and review the competences of EU Member States in that area.