Covington Secures State Aid Victory for the Belgian State in Nuclear Guarantee Scheme

BRUSSELS—Covington successfully represented the Belgian State in a state aid investigation, raising a series of previously unexplored issues. The European Commission final decision adopted a novel approach to the Market Economy Investor principle, to the establishment of the relevant market benchmark, and to calculating the comparable market price in such a manner as not to grant any advantage to the economic operators. The Commission accepted the arguments brought forward and concluded that the Belgian Nuclear Guarantee Scheme did not entail state aid. 

The Belgian Nuclear Guarantee Scheme was set up by the Belgian State for nuclear operators that do not find sufficient civil liability coverage on private insurance markets in response to the Paris Convention, which will impose significantly increased civil liability for nuclear operators in case of an incident. The new Belgian legislative package will improve compensation for potential victims without granting any advantage to operators.

The Covington team was led by the co-chair of the firm’s global Antitrust practice Johan Ysewyn and included senior advisor Sophie Bertin.