Malgorzata Agnieszka Cyndecka

My current project concerns one of the most debated and complex issues that is currently being discussed in the EU/EEA, the relation between the EU/EEA State aid law and Tax law of the Member States. The recent developments in the EU law have expanded the scope of State aid law, which considerably limits the Member States’ room for manoeuvre. Norway being a Contracting Party to the EEA Agreement is subject to the same rules as EU Member States, with some minor exceptions only. The recent examples of the EU/EEA institutions applying State aid law to taxation have revived the debate on the EU/EEA law interfering in the sovereignty of the Member States. Given the fact that direct taxation to a large extent remains a sole competence of the Member States, it should not come as a surprise that this debate raises much controversy. In fact, its scope and importance is being compared to the discussion on the application of the free movement rules a few decades ago. In addition, the debate on fiscal aid also has an international and interdisciplinary dimension. The highly topical issue of tax treaties and tax rulings in favour of multinational companies such as Apple, Amazon or Starbucks concerns the problem of tax evasion and tax avoidance and must be seen in light of international tax avoidance structures adopted by the G20 and OECD. Fiscal aid for environment and energy-saving objectives in the form of “green taxation” is also a global issue. Obviously, the fight against the climate change is not limited to the EU/EEA states.

Given the complexity of applying State aid law to tax measures, a fruitful collaboration with internationally renowned experts in the relevant fields of law is indispensable. My project includes thus two gatherings of experts that will create a solid foundation for future collaboration going beyond the planned project. This is crucial to developing a much needed expertise in State aid law in the Norwegian academia and will strengthen the UiB’s position EU/EEA- and worldwide. The project is financed by the University of Bergen's SPIRE-fund (Strategisk program for internasjonalt forskningssamarbeid). In November 2019, I organised the first gathering in the Norwegian House of Research and Innovation in Brussels. The workshop gathered the following renowned experts: Georg Børresen, Assistand director general, Norwegian tax authorities: The "arm's length principle" from the perspective of Tax law, Dr. Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, Director of the Competition Law Forum & Senior Research Fellow in Competition Law, British Institute of International and Comparative law: The "arms's length principle" in State aid cases - The latest from the Court of Justice of the European Union, Joana Christina Pedroso, Doctoral student in Tax Law, University of Gothenburg: The "arm's length principle" from a pluralistic perspective of EU law, Dr. Malgorzata Cyndecka, Associate Professor at the University of Bergen: The selectivity condition in tax cases - where de we stand? Introductory remarks, The recent case law - (even) less clarity? Maarten Aalbers, PhD candidate, Leiden School of Law, Leiden University and Dr. Henrik Skar, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Bergen, Christian Jordal, Deputy Director, State Aid Unit, EFTA Surceillance Authority: The Norwegian cash refund of the tax value of petrolium exploration costs - the question of selectivity in practice. New Recovery Notice - old problems (with national legislation)?, Dr. Malgorzata Cyndecka, Associate Professor at University of Bergen schemes implemented under GBER, time limitations, etc. The full programme may be accessed here. 

Postdoctoral project

In 2019, I have completed my postdoctoral project «Towards more stability, competitiveness and predictability in the financial sector», which was financed by the Norwegian Finansmarkedsfondet, (the Finance Market Fund). The Finance Market Fund is intended to contribute to increasing public understanding concerning financial markets, with particular emphasis on the functioning of financial markets, and also ethical issues.

The project resulted in a number of peer-reviewed scientific articles that were published in the European State Aid Law Quarterly, (Lexxion), the first pan-European publication for State aid law, recognized as the leading journal in its field today (see Cristin for the full list pf publications). I have also contributed to the second edition of the highly appraised "Research Handbook on European State Aid Law" edited by L Hancher & JJ Piernas López with a chapter “State aid and the financial sector: the crisis and beyond”, which will be published by Edward Elgar in 2020. My project also included workshops with international experts in the field of State aid law, both academics and practitioners, as well as a concluding conference "Offentlig oppgavetyveri?" during which the invited experts discussed competition between the private and public sectors. The conference was also linked to my contribution as a member of the Norwegian government’s external working group, "Competition on a level playing field", that analysed amongst others implicit guarantees and tax exemptions in favour of public entities and undertakings that compete with private market operators. In 2018, the Working Group submitted its report: Like konkurransevilkår for offentlige og private aktører.