Overview
As the interest in the economics of State aid is steadily increasing among academics, practitioners and public officials, we are pleased to bring these cross-disciplinary groups together during the second edition of our annual conference "State Aid Control: Where Law and Economics Meet".

This event - organised in cooperation with Vrije Universiteit Brussel and E.CA Economics - combines theoretical, empirical as well as policy-oriented contributionson State aid from various areas of law and economics. This year we worked with a call for abstracts to set up the panels for the parallel sessions.

Interdisciplinary approaches were especially encouraged. The conference will be held in English.

Topics
Opening Keynote by Caroline Pauwels
Rector of Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels

Plenary Session I: The Economics of State Aid - An Update

• New developments in the economics of State aid
• State aid and ex-post evaluation

Parallel Session 1: Infrastructure

• State aid to airports
• Applying the principle of technological neutrality to State aid for network infrastructures
• Port investment projects and State aid with special regard to the Hungarian ports

Parallel Session 2: Evaluation

• Re-privatisation and investments by state owned enterprises: EU SA considerations
• Financial constraints: State aid to the rescue? Evidence from Belgian firm level data
• Evaluating restructuring aid: a case study approach

Parallel Session 3: State Aid in Tax and International Treaties

• Are State aid rules undermined by the use of international rules?
• Anti-avoidance measures and State aid in a post-BEPS context: an attempt at reconciliation
• Fiscal State aid: are there different standards to determine the arm’s length price between related companies?

Parallel Session 4: Market Economy Investors

• The applicability and application of the MEIP: lessons learnt from the financial crisis
• The private purchaser test from the perspective of agency theory
• SGEI in Croatia: The legal framework for the economic necessity

Plenary Session II: State Aid Control - Theories of Harm & International Competitiveness

• Theories of Harm in State Aid Control
• State Aid Control & International Competitiveness

Who should participate?

• Economists
• Academics
• Private legal practitioners
• Private and Public Competition Lawers
• Representatives from public authorities on national, regional and local level
• Representatives from public and private banks
• Industry representatives and in-house counsels dealing with State aid law

Benefits of Attending

• Experts from the European institutions, national authorities, private legal practitioners, economists, academics and industry representatives have the opportunity to exchange their views on the rules that guide European State aid control.

• Participants will earn SRA CPD credits for the conference.

• Meet and exchange with colleagues from all over Europe – and beyond.