EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS

Prague, Czechia

EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS 2022

2.2 Research methods The research methods used by the author were:

a) dogmatic legal research (interpretation of the norms of applicable law) through a critical analysis and linguistic analysis, as well as using the rules of formal logic of relevant legal acts in terms of the analysis of current regulations and reminiscence of European Union law on the financing of sport, as well as judicial decisions in terms of verifying the legality of resolutions adopted by the relevant organs. Complementarily, in the course of the research conducted by the author, the empirical method was also used; b) comparative legal methods through critical analysis and linguistic analysis, as well as using the rules of formal logic of legal acts of foreign law in terms of comparing the provisions on financial support for sport in various legal systems of European Union countries and European literature on public aid and financing of sport in selected European Union countries; c) historical legal research by analyzing the functioning of legal elements related to the evolution of methods of granting state aid in the legal system, including, in particular, support by public authorities granted to sports market entities over the years. The Article also attempts to use the historical legal research in the system version to analyze the state aid law in the field of sports law and the impact of state aid law on the development of this field. 3.1 The concept of illegal state aid The basic prohibition on the grant of state aid is contained in Article 107(1) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. That Article also defines the concept of state aid. It states: Save as otherwise provided in the Treaties, any aid granted by a Member State or through State resources in any form whatsoever which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favouring certain undertakings or the production of certain goods shall, in so far as it affects trade between Member States, be incompatible with the internal market. So, it is necessary to show cumulatively that the measure is a « state measure » and that it has been granted through state resources. It is also important that provision a measure must satisfy the following four criteria (Bacon, 2009): 3. Analysis and Problem Solution

1) there must be aid in the sense of a benefit or advantage; 2) which is granted by the state and through state resources;

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