Regionale Steuerkompetenzen und europäische Beihilfenkontrolle am Beispiel des Baskenlandes

Abstract

In recent years the question has come up whether the federal structures of European Member States are in accordance with European Law. For example, it is questionable if the tax autonomy of the Basque Country leads systematically to unjustified state aids. In this regard up to now it is not clear whether regional tax autonomy has to be seen as a gerneral or regional specific measure. In the latter case the tax scheme os the Basque Country would be illegal and should be abandoned. However, from a the viewpoint of economics the ongoing debate seems to be incomplete, because insight from the economic theory of federalism plays only a minor role; especially the principle of 'fiscal equivalence' has been widely neglected. Therefore, from the viewpoint of ferdalism theory the practice of European state aid control seems to be inconsistent. (Original text only available in german language)