Abstract

This short article summarizes the ongoing litigation since 1997 between Alitalia and the European Commission regarding State aids rules, up to the present phase, where Italy has granted further 300 million Euros to Alitalia, and the Commission has already voiced its renewed skepticism. The article briefly applies to the Alitalia case the views discussed in the previous article in the 3/2006 issue of this review, regarding the thin theoretical basis of the State aids discipline. It stresses the peculiar market situation, where neither the domestic nor the international competitors of Alitalia have, probably, much reason to worry about Alitalia's surviving in its present feeble competitive position. And ends by suggesting that, in a stronger political Community setting, State aids rules may acquire a federalistic dimension, which may compensate their ex hypothesi dubious economic justification.