The State Graduated Pension Scheme was an early attempt to provide earnings-related benefits in addition to the basic flat rate state pension, introduced in 1961.

Arbitration analysis: The High Court of England and Wales (Commercial Court) has ruled that India's ratification of the New York Convention 1958 (NYC) does not constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity under section 2(2) of the UK State Immunity Act 1978 (SIA 1978). The claimants—Mauritius-based investors, sought enforcement of arbitral awards rendered under a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), asserting that India's ratification of the NYC amounted to a prior written agreement consenting to jurisdiction. The court distinguished the NYC from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Convention, particularly regarding the 'rules of procedure' proviso in Article III of the NYC, which it found preserves state immunity as a procedural bar under English law. The court has granted permission to appeal, signalling the importance of this pure point of law for the Supreme Court which shall critically examine whether treaty-based commitments to enforcement implicitly override sovereign immunity defences. This case is a pivotal test of arbitration enforcement mechanisms, particularly regarding the balance between state sovereignty and investor rights. Written by Prasanth Raju, MCIArb, counsel & advocate before the High Court of Bombay and the Supreme Court of India.

State immunity in the Netherlands—introduction This Practice Note considers the role of state immunity in relation to arbitration proceedings in the Netherlands. For a general introduction to state immunity and arbitration, see Practice Note: State immunity and arbitration—general considerations. In addition, for Practice Notes on state immunity in a number of jurisdictions around the world (including England and Wales)), see our state immunity subtopic: State immunity and arbitration—overview.State immunity and arbitration—overview States and state-owned entities are often parties to international business transactions. Contracts entered into by states, in particular those involving private parties from another country, frequently contain arbitration clauses. As a consequence, states are often parties to international arbitration proceedings. Dutch law recognizes two types of state immunities: (i) state immunity from jurisdiction (or jurisdictional immunity) and (ii) state immunity from enforcement. State immunity from jurisdiction is a principle which prevents a court or tribunal from having jurisdiction to hear a case over the state benefiting from the immunity. State immunity from enforcement prevents a court or tribunal from

Administered and paid by The Pension Service, this is a pension payable by the State on reaching state pension age.

Assistance provided by an EU Member State, or one of its public authorities, using public resources which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favouring certain undertakings or the production of certain goods.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. For further reading on this subject, see: State aid—overview. State aid—generally The European Union Rules (EU rules) on state aid prohibit member states from granting aid or assistance which distorts or threatens to distort competition and inter-state trade. Therefore whenever a public body or publicly-funded body (such as a quango) provides financial support to an undertaking they need to consider carefully whether such support constitutes state aid, particularly given that the European Commission (the Commission) is obliged to claw back any illegally granted state aid (and relevant interest on such aid). However the EU also recognises that state aid may be a necessary element of government policy where for example it wants to attract inward investment into underdeveloped regions (often known as 'assisted areas') or to encourage investment in high technology industries. Article 107(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) contains the basic prohibition on the grant of state aid, whereas TFEU, art 7, paras (2), (3) describe the type of state

The term ‘services of general economic interest’ (SGEI) is not defined in the EU Treaties nor in the secondary legislation. Its concept is laid down in Article 14 TFEU and (especially) Article 106(2) TFEU, which states that undertakings being entrusted with the operation of a SGEI shall be subject to the rules of the TFEU unless these rules would obstruct the performance of the particular assigned task. Moreover, that intra-community trade development must not be effected in a way that is contrary to the EU’s interest. Additionally, Protocol No 26 to the TFEU mentions the importance of SGEI and especially stipulates the Member States’ discretion when it comes to defining SGEI. This Protocol also explains why SGEI are not defined by the EU: SGEI are not the same in every Member State because of the different needs, which result from the different history, geographical, cultural and social situation. Moreover, the role of SGEI is evolving with technological progress and societal change. Therefore, the Member States are obliged to ensure the quality of SGEIs, their safety and affordability,

Economic transactions carried out by Member States do not confer an advantage in favour of an undertaking, and therefore do not constitute State aid under EU law, if they are carried out in line with normal market conditions. The European Commission (Commission), confirmed by the Court of Justice, has set up the ‘market economy operator principle’ (MEOP) to identify the presence of State aid in cases of public investments in the form of capital injections: to determine whether a public investment constitutes State aid, it is necessary to assess whether, in similar circumstances, a private investor of a comparable size operating in normal market economy conditions would have made the same investment. This principle has later been applied to different economic transactions (capital injections, loans, guarantees, sale and purchase of assets, goods and services, etc). When applying the MEOP, only the benefits and obligations linked to the role of the State as an economic operator, and not those linked to its role as a public authority are to be taken into account. The

Article 107(1) TFEU defines State aid as '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 (…), in so far as it affects trade between Member States'. The reference to 'any form whatsoever' makes reference to a concept of State aid much wider than direct subsidies to companies, and particularly it includes the possibility for the European Commission (Commission) to control possible aids granted by Member States through their tax legislation. This category of aid is called 'fiscal aid' and includes any legislative, regulatory or administrative measures related to Member States’ tax systems, especially, but not limited to, corporate taxation. The Commission put fiscal aid under the spotlight in 1998, with the adoption of a 'Notice on the application of the State aid rules to measures relating to direct business taxation'. This Notice confirmed that Member States retain exclusive competence to design their tax systems and to adopt general measures of economic

The EU State aid regime, which contains a general prohibition on State aid and some exceptions, is guaranteed by a number of procedural rules which are aimed at ensuring the European Commission’s capacity of scrutiny over aid granted or planned to be granted by an EU Member State. These rules have been developed from the case law of the EU Courts and the administrative practice of the European Commission (the Commission) and have been codified in several regulations. Nowadays, procedural rules are laid down in the Regulation 2015/1589 (the Regulation) and its implementation Regulation 2015/2282. State aid procedures—notified aid, unlawful aid, misused aid and existing aid The Commission is responsible to apply the EU State aid rules on notification, approval and recovery of State aid. The nature of the State aid in question (notified, unlawful, misused or existing aid) will determine the procedure to be applied. Although the procedure regarding notified aid represents the basis and embeds the most relevant features to be applied to the other type of aids, the idiosyncrasies of each procedure should not be overlooked. Notified

Under Article 108(3) TFEU, all projects of aid must be notified by Member States to the European Commission (Commission) in order to be formally authorised. Following the enlargement of the EU, in the early 2000s, the Commission was granted the possibility by the European Council to adopt exemption regulations in order to allow Member States to grant State aid without a formal notification to the Commission. Several regulations were adopted, then integrated in one General Block Exemption Regulation. The aim is to avoid unnecessary administrative burdens for both the Commission and the Member States. In recent years, the Commission has implemented a State aid modernisation process in order to focus its State aid control on measures which genuinely affect competition in the Internal Market. At the same time, the objective was to simplify and streamline rules and procedures. This has facilitated public investments, by empowering Member States to grant public support without prior scrutiny by the Commission and by speeding up decision-making in State aid procedures. For further information on the State aid procedure,

Introduction Under the EU State aid rules, any advantage conferred by a Member State using state resources which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favoring certain undertakings or production of certain goods, insofar as it (potentially) affects trade between Member States, is subject to a notification obligation to the European Commission (the Commission). There are some exceptions to this general rule. One exception concerns small amounts of aid, which are granted based on different de minimis Regulations. Aid which is granted based on these regulations is deemed not to meet all the criteria withing the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU and is therefore not subject to the notification procedure. What is the relevant legal basis? The Commission published different de minimis regulations with different scopes, thresholds etc: • first, the general de minimis Regulation (Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 of 13 December 2023 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 TFEU to de minimis aid, ‘de minimis Regulation’) • second, the de minimis Regulation concerning the provision of services of general economic interest