European “Ghost Airports”: EU Law Failure or Policy Failure? The Need for economic Analysis in State Aid Law

Wasteful spending of public funds, leading to the creation of “ghost airports”, is often described as a regulatory failure and a major deficiency in European State aid control. It is pointed out that decisions to build or upgrade an airport are often illconceived, poorly implemented, and without economic justification. This raises the question whether European law, namely its State aid control system, contains inherent flaws or whether the European Commission’s decisionmaking process can be improved by increasing reliance on objective economic reasoning under the existing legal framework. This article provides an analysis of the decisionmaking problems leading to failed aid efforts; of the role of the economic approach in State aids; and of the standard of economic assessment required in State aid cases. The article concludes with de lege ferenda postulates.