Global Trade Alert

 
On 23 July 2014, the EuropeanCommission allowed German authorities to grant investment aid worth EUR255.6 million to the Leipzig/Halle Airport. The aid involves capitalinjections to the Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG (hereafter MFAG) and the Flughafen Leipzig/Halle GmbH (hereafter FLG)for the costs incurred during infrastructure projects conducted at thefreight airport.
 
The FLG is a subsidiary ofMFAG and is owned at 94% by the parent company. The remaining 6% arejointly owned by the Land of Saxony, the rural district of NorthernSaxony and the city of Schkeuditz. The MFAG, on the other hand, is owned at 76.64 by Saxony, at 18.54 by the Land ofSaxony-Anhalt, whereas the remaining shares are held by the cities ofDresden, Halle and Leipzig.
 
The infrastructure projectswere divided into three separate segments. The first segment commencedin 2008 and included the land acquisition, resettlement and an enginerun stand. The second segment which began in 2006 involved the extension of the north airstrip, the construction of arunway and taxiway bridge, as well as new fire stations and amulti-purpose hall. The last segment comprised of a heliport, additionalnoise protection measures, extensions of the north andeast aprons was started in 2010. All segments were expected tobe finished by 2011.
 
According to the Commission,there is competition between freight airports, as the Leipzig/HalleAirport competes particularly with the Brussels and Vatry (France)airports. The EC further concluded that the aid does "affect trade between Member States" (para. 107, letter from the EC toGermany, Brussels 15.6.2011; own translation).
 
A state measure in the GTAdatabase is assessed solely in terms of the extent to which itsimplementation affects the extent of discrimination against foreigncommercial interests. On this metric, the state aid proposed here is discriminatory.