Allard Knook professor by special appointment of State Aid

Dr. Allard Knook has been appointed professor by special appointment of State Aid at Utrecht University on 1 February 2021. He is a partner in State Aid and Government Financing at PwC, the largest state aid section in the Netherlands and will hold the chair at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance for one day a week.

After Covid-19

No area of law has changed as rapidly as state aid law in the wake of the coronary crisis. In short, this area of law assumes that governments are forbidden to support companies, except in the case of a specific exception. Whether it is tax exemptions or the provision of cheap land to football clubs, state aid is only possible if explicitly allowed: the prohibition is the norm, providing support is the exception. Due to the corona crisis, there has been a considerable widening of State aid law and the general expectation is that this widening will continue after Covid-19. These changes lead to many new questions, such as whether the state aid instruments are still up to date. It is also known that a modernisation of the European state aid rules is being worked on.

In order to make a meaningful contribution to strengthening the knowledge in this field of law and the social debate on it, a special State Aid chair has been established at the Faculty of Law, Economics and  Governance of Utrecht University.  As of 1 February, Dr Allard Knook has been appointed as extraordinary professor State Aid in this chair. Knook is partner State Aid and Public Financing at PwC, the largest state aid department in the Netherlands, and will hold the chair for one day a week.

Efficiency and Lawfulness

Knook studied law at Utrecht University and obtained his PhD there in 2007 on the development of the European Union as a result of the case law of the Court of Justice. He is author of the Dutch State Aid Handbook and publishes regularly on this subject. As a partner in State Aid and Government Financing at PwC, Knook focuses on the efficiency and lawfulness of government financing in the broadest sense of the word. Together with his team, he assists (semi) public authorities in various (financing) processes in the public sector. The chair is part of International and European Law.

At Utrecht University, he will also work closely with Utrecht Centre for Regulation and Enforcement in Europe (RENFORCE), the Centre for Public Procurement and the research group of State Law, Administrative Law and Legal Theory, among others.