Every cloud has a silver lining. The financial crisis of 2008 and the related sovereign debt crisis of 2010 forced the European institutions not only to give new impetus to the process of formation of the Banking Union, but also to realize that State aid law can become the quintessential legal tool for the pursuit of policy objectives of interest to the Union. This article traces the changes in State aid law during the crisis and in its aftermath to give a sense to how State Aid law is called upon to strike a balance between opposing but legitimate needs.