| dc.description.abstract | Issues arising from public authorities competing in markets have been somewhat overlooked,
despite the OECD’s emphasis on the need for equal terms in the competition between public
and private undertakings (Honoré, 2017). If a single entity is engaged in both economic and
non-economic activities, public resources flow within the organization, making it difficult to
ascertain which resources are used for which purposes. To prevent undertakings from using
public resources to subsidize competitive activities, the EU has imposed requirements to keep
separate accounts between economic and non-economic activities. The Commission
considers this to be “the most efficient means by which fair and effective application of the
rules of competition […] can be assured.”
1
The requirement to keep separate accounts is meant to prevent States from circumventing
State aid rules using legislative techniques, for example by organizing the public undertaking
as part of a municipal body (Honoré, 2017). This thesis studies the requirements set out in the
regulation on how a separation of accounts is implemented. Further, a selection of cases is
reviewed to see how the requirements are applied by the ESA as a supervisory body. The
thesis finds that the requirements are very broad and unspecific, and inconsistent application
by the ESA results in uncertainty as to acceptable methods of allocating cost. The legal
framework could be improved by imposing more specific requirements such as those
proposed by Hjelmeng et al. (2018, p. 236). | nb_NO |
