State Aid in the Transport Sector

The European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) would like to announce a new seminar on State Aid in Land Transport. The two-day seminar will be organised on 27 and 28 May 2010 in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

The seminar aims to give participants a comprehensive understanding of the concept of state aid in the transport sector. Its aim is to familiarize public officials with the Commission’s approach to state aid cases in this sector and with the experiences in other Member States. It focuses on recent issues and goes into greater depth.

This 2-day seminar introduces the objectives of and developments in the transport sector and considers the application of basic principles of EC state aid law. This is followed by in-depth focus on specific state aid issues, e.g. the application of the Altmark ruling in land transport, the new Regulation 1370/2007 and the first experiences of its application, the new Guidelines on state aid to Railway undertakings, the concept of internal operator and the concept of public service compensation and how this is calculated, the relationship of state aid with infrastructure financing and the issue of state aid financing of seaports. Further national experiences on transport funding will be presented.

The seminar would target officials from central ministries and/or other authorities dealing with transport issues and managers of public enterprises who may be involved in the formulation and implementation of transport state aid schemes. The seminar is also open to managers of private enterprises that may receive aid in this field.

EIPA, which is organising and hosting the Seminar, has extensive experience and a well-established track record in this kind of professional training activities. The Seminar forms part of the work and research of the Institute in the broader area of competition policy.

The working language of the workshop will be English.

Participants will receive a copy of the 2008 edition of our book “State Aid Policy in the European Community: Principles and Practice”, which is published in cooperation with Kluwer.

Important notice: In view of the strong demand for state aid seminars, EIPA operates a system of first-come-first-serve. The seminars tend to be fully booked well in advance of the registration deadline. Please submit your registration as soon as possible.

Programme
The programme will commence on Thursday 27 May 2010 at 9.00 hrs and finish on Friday 28 May 2010 at 16.00 hrs.

Seminar venue
The seminar will take place at the European Institute of Public Administration, O.L. Vrouweplein 22, NL-6211 HE Maastricht, tel.: +31.43.3296222, fax: +31.43.3296296.

Working language
The seminar will be conducted in English.

Fee
The participation fee is € 815 and includes documentation, 2 lunches, 1 dinner and refreshments.

EIPA offers its members a reduction of 10% of the registration fee. This reduction is available to all civil servants working for one of EIPA’s member countries (i.e. AT, BE, CY, CZ, DK, EE, FI, FR, DE, GR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LU, MT, NL, PL, PT, ES, SE, UK) as well as civil servants working for an EU institution or agency. If you are eligible for a discount, please tick the box in the registration form. Please note that reductions cannot be accumulated. For more information, please visit EIPA’s website: http://seminars.eipa.eu/en/pages/display/&tid=102.

Accommodation and travel costs are at the expense of the participants or their administration.

Hotel reservations
The European Institute of Public Administration will be pleased to make reservations for you at a hotel in Maastricht. We have made a block booking at:

Hotel Beaumont**** (www.beaumont.nl) at a rate of € 102 p.p.p.n. (incl. breakfast and tourist)

Should you wish to make use of this possibility, please indicate the name of the hotel and the dates of arrival and departure on the registration form. Payment is to be made directly and personally to the hotel on checking out. Please note that if you register after the closing date, hotel reservations cannot be guaranteed.

Meals
The lunches as well as the reception on the first day will be served at the Institute’s restaurant. Should you require a special menu (e.g. vegetarian, diabetic), please inform the Programme Organiser so that this can be arranged.

Registration
Kindly complete the online registration form and submit it before 14 May 2010.

Please submit your registration as soon as possible. Since our State Aid seminars and workshops tend to be fully booked well in advance of the registration deadline, EIPA operates a system of first-come-first-serve.

Confirmation
Confirmation of registration will be forwarded to participants on receipt of the completed registration form.

Payment
Prior payment is a condition for participation. Please indicate the method of payment on the registration form. For cancellations received after the date indicated on the registration form we will have to charge an administration fee of € 150 unless a replacement participant is found.