Publications - EU and Antitrust Law
Commission's decision on tax lease partially annulled
On February 2, 2023 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) partially annulled Commission Decision of 17 July 2013 which declared that the Spanish tax lease system was a state aid scheme and ordered it to be recovered from the investors…
Scania & Others/European Comission: the ‘Hybrid procedure and the rights of defense guarantee
What are the consequences of a settlement procedure where all the companies reach agreement with the authority conducting the investigation phase except one? Could the latter be harmed by not reaching an agreement? How does the principle of…
Cross-border bank mergers in Europe (II): The unique peculiar features of the law in each country
Keeping our legal sight on the obstacles or difficulties for cross-border mergers which we started looking at in the previous article in this series, we cannot overlook that the laws of every state retain their own peculiar characteristics, a…
Cross-border bank mergers in Europe (I): Why are they not here yet?
There has been much talk about cross-border bank mergers in Europe, but so far none have happened or appear to be imminent. A few years ago Garrigues recommended that banks watch out for them in the future. Now the European supervisors are…
COVID-19: Economic Support Facility – Questions and Answers
In late March and early April, the European Commission ("EC") approved two state aid packages for Portugal, within the framework of Article 107 (3) (b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), namely decisions SA.…
COVID-19: European Commission extends and adds flexibility to temporary framework for authorization of state aid
On April 3, 2020 the European Commission announced the adoption of an amendment extending and adding flexibility to the Temporary Framework adopted on March 19, 2020 to enable Member States to give State aid for research, testing and…
COVID-19: European Commission adopts temporary framework to authorize State aid
On March 19, 2020, the European Commission issued a communication setting out a Temporary Framework that provides for more flexible and quicker authorization of State aid granted to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak. The Temporary…
The outcome of the IRPH litigation against Spanish banks could have European-wide consequences
On September 10, the Advocate General (AG) issued his opinion on a preliminary ruling to be rendered by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding a lawsuit in Spain over the validity, under the European directive on unfair terms in…
These are Spain's measures to prepare for a no-deal Brexit in the fields of employment, judicial cooperation, financial services and customs
The Spanish government has adopted a range of contingency measures to prepare for the event of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without an agreement on March 30, 2019. They are temporary measures approved through Royal Decree-Law 5/2019…
Protecting personal data under the GDPR in arbitration
In this article we highlight the implications for parties, counsel, arbitral institutions and third party providers and consider how to best deal with GDPR compliance including assessing if consent is necessary, obtaining consent when and if needed…
State aid and Tax Rulings: An appropriate way to tackle aggressive tax planning?
In two decisions issued on October 21, 2015, the European Commission (EC) has concluded that, by issuing certain tax rulings covering transfer pricing matters, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have granted selective tax advantages to Fiat Finance and…
EU State Aids and Tax Law
On 7 November 2014 the General Court of the European Union (‘General Court’) rendered two landmark judgments shedding light on the boundaries of the key notion of ‘selectivity’ in tax-related State aid cases. The judgments quashed two European…