Distortive foreign subsidies

摘要

In May,the European Commission proposed a new legislative instrument aimed at addressing the distortive effects that foreign subsidies, in their various forms, potentially have on the EU internal market. Despite several cases in recent years where foreign subsidies have been found to have distorting effects on sectors like construction, no specific EU legislation that allows for the scrutiny of state aid granted by non-EU countries is in place. As such, the Commission's proposal represents a major step and a welcome one, towards restoring a level playing field in a sector like construction.