State Resources Doctrine Rebooted · Case C‑405/16 P Federal Republic of Germany v European Commission (EEG) · Annotation by Theodoros Iliopoulos

Abstract

The judgment in the Case C-405/16 P has culminated the struggle between Germany and the Commission over the German law for the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources. Germany has argued that the legislation at issue followed the PreussenElektra model and does not constitute State aid,while the Commission and the General Court have adopted the opposite stance. In March 2019, the Court of Justice judgment in appeal held that there was no State aid involved and set aside the General Court judgment. Thus, a restrictive interpretation of the obfuscated ‘State resources’ criterion was reinstated, which takes State aid law theory back to its roots and makes the PreussenElektra doctrine actual again. The judgment can to a large extent shape how State aid law will apply in the next years and determine the possibility of Member Statesto circumvent the State aid law restrictions when enacting measures for the promotion of renewable energy sources, but also for other policy objectives.