The main pillar of this effort will consist in identifying legal parameters that will assist in specifying the contents of this provision in such a way that will assure its compatibility with the existing European legal framework and especially the legal framework on EU State Aid.
It is crucial to tackle a number of key legal issues beforehand in a way that will minimize the possibility of severe legal problems arising in the future and affecting the investments already benefiting from such a premium in the future.
The Greek manufacturing companies have also asked for an official meeting with the Greek Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Mr. Papakonstantinou, in order to thoroughly discuss and further investigate this issue, based on the initial findings of this legal survey.
Managing Partner of M&A Law Firm, Dr. A. Metaxas, who is also the Chairman of the Hellenic State Aid Institute, has stated in an interview that the assigned legal support could be used in order to assist the specification of the legislative initiative currently prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change.
Dr. Metaxas stated that "a profound legal analysis of all possible scenarios regarding the conception of a local contact requirement is more than necessary, since several parameters of this issue constitute a more or less ‘grey' zone of European State Aid Law, where one can identify even minor deviations between the legal approach adopted by the European Commission and the Court of the EU.
"On the other hand, we shall seek the necessary legal ‘safety nets', since EU Treaty State Aid provisions provide for very harsh legal consequences even with retroactive effect, on all cases of national measures that shall be considered illegal and/or incompatible with the Common Market."
