AbstractInnovation has come to the forefront of EU public procurement. Directive 2014/24/EU has given contracting authorities in the Member States a new award procedure to pursue innovation, namely the innovation partnership. Still a number of issues remain open, notably concerning the allocation of intellectual property rights that may call for the application of State aids rules. Further guidance is thus expected from the Commission.
This article examines fiscal State aids and the selectivity condition. Assessing the selectivity is relatively complex in tax matters since it involves the analysis of the general tax system in which the regime under review applies. The focus of this article is on the selectivity analysis and the analysis of the general tax system i.e. the determination of the relevant reference framework. The definition of the relevant reference framework is still open to various interpretations despite the fact that the European Court of Justice has examined selectivity issues in several cases in the 2000s. The Gibraltar judgement has materially broadened the interpretation of the selectivity condition and the application of Article 107(1) TFEU. The Heitkamp BauHolding judgment confirms the interpretation adopted in the Gibraltar judgement, but also defines the scope of Article 107(1) TFEU in more detail. Yet the offset of the selectivity assessment i.e. the determination of the relevant reference system is still receptive to various interpretations.
Public procurement and innovation
