Global Trade Alert

According to Germany, "The port of Magdeburg [...] serves as a hinterland hub for several sea ports located at the North and the Baltic Sea, including Cuxhaven, Hamburg (both in Germany) and Szczecin (in Poland). [...]The total investment cost of the notified project amounts to EUR 39 773 500. [...] The project will be financed through a direct grant by the Investitionsbank Sachsen-Anhalt, amounting to EUR 35 796 150." (para. 2, 4 and 6 letter from the EC to Germany, Brussels 19.01.2017)

Based on the findings of the European Commission, "[...] the project is capable of affecting competition and trade between Member States by potentially diverting commerce away from other Member States." In addition, the capacity of the port of Magdeburg will be increased "[...] and [...], at least potentially increase competition between ports in the internal market. Moreover, as the port of Magdeburg is located in the catchment area of at least one seaport located in a Member State outside Germany (Szczecin in Poland), cross border trade is likely to be affected [...]." (para. 33 letter from the EC to Germany, Brussels 19.01.2017)

In the GTA database the determination of whether a policy instrument discriminates against foreign commercial interests turns on whether it creates or alters the relative treatment of domestic firms versus foreign commercial interests. On this metric, the state aid proposed here is discriminatory because the state aid is not available to competing firms outside of the implementing jurisdiction.