Between the 6th and the 8th of April 2009, Mr. D. Gatidis and Mr. G. Papachristou, members of the State Aid Unit, attended an EIPA seminar in Maastricht concerning “State Aid Procedures and Enforcement & the SANI System”, including an introductory Workshop on State Aid Principles. The seminar examined in depth the interpretation and application of the procedural rules of the Regulation No. 659/1999. Recovery of aid, third parties’ rights and the application of state aid rules by national courts are some of the topics that were analyzed in detail. The seminar provided also a forum for comparing national experiences as regards administrative arrangements for notifying and registering aid and the enforcement of recovery decisions. Finally, there was also a working group exercise on how to deal with the assessment of cases that combine state aid with structural funds.
