The European Commission’s Arm’s Length Standard: Relationship and Compatibility with the Arm’s Length Principle under Transfer Pricing

The European Commission’s Decisions on State aid have sparked an international uproar, especially in regard of the Commission’s methodology and conclusions. In this article, the author seeks to provide insight into the Commission’s most contentious and sustained pronouncement, namely that an autonomous arm’s length standard is embedded within the main State aid provision enshrined within the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The author looks into the nature of the Commission’s arm’s length standard, its definition and implications.