Member states are “inventive and ingenious in devising ways to subsidise companies without falling foul of state aid rules” and the UK “is no exception”, Mishcon de Reya associate Tim Malloch writes in this week’s NLJ. He notes that Austria has now challenged the European Commission’s decision to approve the UK’s request for state aid for a new nuclear power station, Hinkley Point C. Malloch suggests that the Commission is likely to defend the decision on the basis that it is proportionate and appropriate.