Macht die Bekanntmachung zum Beihilfebegriff Steuerbeihilfen transparenter?

The Commission's 2016 Notice on the Notion of Aid extensively covers the issue of tax measures constituting aid. This is a welcome development as it gives vital guidance to tax practice, which had been subject to increasing uncertainty in recent years in the area of tax aid. Due to the one-sided binding value of the notice, protected legitimate expectations are created for taxpayers to the extent that the Notice provides clear delimiting statements. Nevertheless, many of the interpretations of the Commission in the Notice are not based on case law, but rather the Commission's own views, which requires a critical examination of the positions taken by the Commission and their backing by the Court of Justice.