Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / David C. Thompson / The present study, Funding public school infrastructure: an overview of selected impacts and reconceptualization of state aid, with insights from three representative Kansas school districts sought to provide insights and new possibilities regarding public school infrastructure in the state of Kansas. The study was conducted in three separate, yet interconnected phases. Phase One provided for an in-depth literature review of past school finance formulae, litigation, and other important historical contexts at both a national level and more specifically within Kansas. Phase Two then sought to provide for an in-depth statistical analysis using common exploratory statistics of the three proposed funding alternatives to the bond and interest state aid formula. Finally, Phase Three provided for a practical application and lived experienced of the proposed alternatives through interviews with three selected school district representatives. Collectively, these three phases provided for a wealth of applicable and otherwise highly considerable solutions to the current funding mechanisms for capital infrastructure in the state of Kansas. The population for this study included all 286 school districts in the state of Kansas. The data used for the three proposed alternatives was provided by the Kansas State Department of Education and is from the 2015 audited fiscal year reports. The three selected school districts that were chosen for deeper discussion and analysis were USD 446-Independence, USD 490-El Dorado, and USD 491-Eudora. Results from the study revealed a wealth of insights that are both plausible and considerable for policymakers and legislators. Alternative one, which proposed applying general fund principles to the bond and interest fund would provide for the most assistance to school districts, but represented a straight cost increase to the state. Alternative two, which replaced property value measures (assessed valuation) with income-based measures (median household income) was cost neutral to the state, with both winners and losers. The final alternative provided for a complete policy shift away from mill levies tied only to districts that had incurred debt and moved towards a mandatory and uniform mill rate across all districts, while also creating a surplus pool from which districts could draw for capital infrastructure spending. The final alternative was again cost neutral to the state with a number of winners and losers, but provided for a means to an end that neither of the other two alternatives provided – an avenue for school districts to obtain capital infrastructure funding that would not require a majority vote by district patrons. The present study provided both an analysis of the current state of affairs, as well as a challenge to abandon current policy structures and begin to rethink how bricks and mortar within the state of Kansas are funded. The growing backlog of deferred maintenance, as well as the conclusion that the accident of residence will affect a child’s educational experience served as the necessary precursors and motivation for the recommendations and conclusions that were provided as a result of this study.

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Taxation as State Aid The purpose of my thesis is to analyse taxation in connection with state aid. The reason for my research is to find out how Member States of European Union can use taxation without interfering with state aid provisions. The thesis is composed of three chapters. Chapter One is an introduction to the topic. There is a description of basic state aid provisions, taxation within European Union and the tax competition between Member States. Chapter Two examines article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in respect of taxation. The chapter consists of nine parts. Five ones further discuss constituent elements of state aid, where the main attention is given to selectivity as the main problem in state aid cases. Another four parts focus on procedure, judicial review, recovery of state aid and de minimis regulation. This chapter is the key part of the thesis because it pursues better understanding of state aid definition with respect to taxation. Chapter Three concentrates on problems resulting from the intersection of state aid and taxation such as the influence on double taxation treaties, discretionary powers of Member State's authorities, different taxation of autonomous regions, and so on. Conclusions summarize the importance of state aid in internal market...

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The efficient competition protection is EU's crucial key objective in order to provide smooth functioning of the local competition and the internal market. Within different segments of the competition I focused on the state aid issue, which is a specific area of the EU competition law. Providing any state aid inevitably influences the market enviroment and carries a considerable risk of the competition distortion. It effects the trade between Member States as well. The main aim of this diploma thesis is not only to describe the European legislation related to state aids, but also its impact on the Czech legal system. The Community state aid rules stem from Articles 107 - 109 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and their main purpose is to prevent any selective advantages to certain market players. This thesis also focuses on reforms and modernization of the state aid control system, in particular to the State Aid Action Plan.

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I takt med att den ökade globaliseringen av den internationella handeln har möjligheterna för multinationella företag att påverka sin beskattning ökat. Företags olika upplägg för att minska sina skattekostnad har bekämpats allt eftersom de har växt fram. Under 2010-talet uppdagades att multinationella företag har fått minskade skatte-kostnader genom tillämpning av APA:or med medlemsstater. Kommissionen har påbörjat ett nitiskt arbete för att stoppa och återvinna dessa skattelättnader. Kommissionens främsta verktyg har varit att retroaktivt tillämpa statsstödsreglerna och genom det har kommissionen kunnat återkräva skattelättnaderna som företagen har erhållit från medlemsstaterna. Kommissionens mest aktuella beslut är mot Apple gällande ett återkrav av skattelättnader om 13 miljarder euro. Beslutet mot Apple är ej offentligt tillgängligt. Kommissionens beslut mot Starbucks är däremot offentligt till-gängligt och är samtidigt ett av de första besluten med denna nya tillämpning av statsstödsreglerna på APA:or. Huvudregel i EU:s statsstödsregler innebär att statliga medel inte får användas till att stödja en grupp av företag. Syftet med en APA är att säkerställa en legal visshet av tillämpningen av gällande rätt. För att en APA skulle kunna bedömas utgöra ett stöd till en viss grupp företag krävs det att det går att visa att APA:n är fördel som enbart erbjuds vissa företag. Har kommissionens kontroversiella tillämpning av statsstödsreglerna kunnat styrka att APA:n mellan Starbucks och Nederländerna har varit en selektiv fördel? Där om tvistas det men ytterst är det upptill EU-domstolen att bedöma huruvida kommissionen har agerat fel när denna frågar hamnar på domstolens bord.

This thesis focuses on state aid law as a specific part of EU competition law. State aid is therefore primarily set in the context of protection of competition in the EU internal market. Furthermore, the thesis provides an interpretation of Article 107, paragraph 1 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which contains four attributes of state aid: state resources, favoring certain undertaking or the production of certain goods, distortion of competition and effect on trade between EU Member States. Analysis of the attribute "effect on trade between Member States" is made in a separate part of the work. In this section, the work seeks to explore how European Commission and the Court of Justice of the European Union approach and interpret this attribute. Attention is paid especially to decision-making activities of the European Commission in recent years. Decisions of the Commission, as a body authoritatively determining whether a measure constitutes state aid, as well as the compatibility of state aid with the internal market, could also indicate the direction in which the state aid law will develop in the future. The analysis of the Commission's decisions found that not even potentially affects trade between Member States a measure with purely local impact. Such measure will...

State aid law is one of the most important categories of the competition law in the European Union. The state as such has an unprecedented advantage compared to other competitors: the state disposes of a huge amount of funds which could be easily distributed in favor of the privileged undertakings. The risk of the distorting effect on competition is high; thus, strict rules are necessary. The thesis is divided into five parts: introduction, the part focusing on international treaties, the general part, specific provisions and the conclusion. Part two of this thesis deals with the respective international treaties relevant for the aid schemes. There are three groups of such international treaties: the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures adopted in the WTO system, the anti-aid measures in the European Economic Area and the anti- subsidies mechanism towards the third countries (i.e. non-members of EEA or WTO). This part describes these three mechanisms and their common principles. Part three of the thesis is dedicated to the general provision. Section 3.1 deals with the term "state aid", describes the main criteria for qualification of the aid as a state aid incompatible with the internal market. I also focused on two judgments of the Tribunal which I considered important for the used...

The Law of State Aid Focusing on Steel Industry Abstract The law of state aid is one of the fundamental pillars of the competition law. The task of this branch of law is to ensure healthy competitive environment. State interferences with the economy may, however, create unequal conditions between the competition on the market. It is therefore necessary to ensure and enforce strict regulation of state aid by law. The first part of the thesis focuses on explaining the concept of State aid under Article 107 of the Treaty on Functioning of the European Union in accordance with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Prohibited State aid is granted by State or through state resources, directly or indirectly. In addition, the measure must be attributable to the State and selectively favor only certain sectors. State does not act as reasonable private investor when providing the aid, and is not aimed at maximizing profits but at supporting the undertaking. Lastly, the aid distorts, or has the ability to distort, competition which adversely affects trade between Member State. If the notified or planned measure appear cumulatively, such aid is prohibited and may not be granted. However, the prohibition on providing State aid is not absolute though. The thesis also deals with exemptions from the...