Lo speciale regime giuridico temporaneo UE applicabile agli Aiuti di Stato in risposta all’emergenza economico-sanitaria causata dalla pandemia di Covid-19.

The article provides an analysis of the temporary legal framework lately established by the European Commission, pursuant to a series of its own communications, so as to set out a system of special compatibility criteria for State Aid measures intended to address the economic and public health emergency caused by the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. Having regard to their objectives, it can be argued that the framework covers essentially these four categories of State Aid: 1) financial support to undertakings; 2) recapitalization of undertakings; 3) promotion of investments in Covid-19 relevant R&D, testing and upscaling infrastructures, and production of Covid-19 relevant products; 4) employment protection. It is important to note that the prompt adoption and following fine-tuning of such temporary framework, which have led already to the adoption of four amendments to the original communication of march 2020, has been necessary because it resulted that the main fiscal response to the socio-economic problems caused the Covid-19 pandemic had to come primarily from Member States’ national budgets, due to the still limited size of the EU budget. In this context, as it happened also in the case of the massive State Aid measures granted in the UE in response to the global financial crisis that emerged in 2007-2008, the greater and exceptional leeway allowed to Member States according to such Covid-19 temporary framework is legally grounded mainly on the need “to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy” of the relevant Member State pursuant to art. 107(3)(b) TFEU. However, it seems that in this case the Commission has adopted in general a much more lenient and flexible approach, in particular with regard to recapitalization measures, presumably due to the expected long-lasting effects of the crisis and its nature of a completely unforeseeable event. Particularly flexible conditions are also provided for the aid to SMEs. Finally,considering that such a temporary framework “merely” gives more legal certainty to Member States when they make use of the flexibility provided pursuant to the general principle established in art. 107(3)(b) TFEU, it cannot be excluded that some of its compatibility criteria could become general legal principles on the matter and possibly be relied on also in cases similar to the current exceptional situation caused by the Covid19 pandemic.