The European Commission has proposed the prolongation of the State aid Temporary Framework until 30 June 2022, in order to expedite the ongoing Covid-19 economic recovery in Europe. The Temporary Framework was initially adopted on 19 March 2020 and to this date, it was amended and prolonged five times (more information available here and here). Margaret Vestager, the Executive Vice-President, who is in charge of the competition policy said that we are finally seeing improvements in the EU economy after the big crisis that hit the EU due to Covid-19. She also added: ’’[W]e need to be aware of disparities […]
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The Treaty of Nice, a landmark agreement in the history of the European integration process, celebrated its 20th anniversary last Friday. The legislation was signed on February 26, 2001 and came into force on February 1, 2003. The key aim of the Treaty was to introduce institutional changes and decision-making reform, amending the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome, which would allow for the ensuing EU enlargement. The Treaty introduced qualified majority voting in the European Council, removed national vetoes in many areas and gave the European Parliament the power to elect the Commission President. It formalized the principles […]
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At the end of last year, the Act on Ratification of the Treaty Establishing the Transport Community (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia – International Agreements“, No. 011/2017) (the “Act”), concluded by and between the European Union (the “EU”) and the South East European Parties—i.e. the Republic of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Albania and Kosovo [1] (the “South East European Parties”)—came into force, which effectively implies that Serbia has already joined the EU, at least with respect to rail, road, inland waterway and maritime transport sectors. The aim of […]
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The European Commission has recently concluded that Luxembourg has been granting an undue tax benefit to Amazon in the total amount of EUR250 million. Since Serbian tax authorities have the power to issue binding advance tax opinions—and given that multinationals commonly exploit this option without any consideration of state aid rules—the Commission’s Decision in the Amazon case should raise some eyebrows. The European Commission (Commission) continues its battle against alleged tax avoidance and has recently concluded that Luxembourg has been granting an undue tax benefit to Amazon in the total amount of EUR 250 million. This tax benefit was awarded […]
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