air transport market – Official Blog of UNIO

Summaries of judgments made in collaboration with the Portuguese judges and référendaire of the General Court (Maria José Costeira, Ricardo Silva Passos and Esperança Mealha)

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Judgment of the General Court of 14 April 2021 (Tenth Chamber) Case T‑388/20 Ryanair DAC v Commission

State Aid – Aid granted by Finland to Finnair in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic – Decision not to raise any objections- Compatibility with Article 107(3)(b) TFEU – Measure intended to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State – Equal treatment – Freedom of establishment – Freedom to provide services – Duty to state reasons

1. Facts

On 13 May 2020, Finland notified the Commission of an aid measure in the form of a State guarantee in favour of the Finnish airline, Finnair, aimed at helping the latter obtain a loan of €600 million from a pension fund to cover its working capital needs. The guarantee, which was supposed to cover 90% of that loan, was limited to a maximum duration of three years.

Referring to its communication on the Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak, the Commission classified the guarantee granted to Finnair as State aid which is compatible with the internal market in accordance with Article 107(3)(b) TFEU. Under that provision, aid intended to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State may, under certain circumstances, be considered to be compatible with the internal market.

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Summaries of judgments made in collaboration with the Portuguese judges and référendaire of the General Court (Maria José Costeira, Ricardo Silva Passos and Esperança Mealha)

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Judgment from General Court (Tenth Chamber, Extended Composition) of 17 February 2021, T – 259/20, Ryanair DAC/Commission

State aid – French air transport market – Deferral of payment of civil aviation tax and solidarity tax on airline tickets due on a monthly basis during the period from March to December 2020 in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic – Decision not to raise any objections – Aid intended to make good the damage caused by an exceptional occurrence – Free provision of services – Equal treatment – Criterion of holding a license issued by the French authorities – Proportionality – Article 107(2)(b) TFEU – Duty to state reasons

1. Facts

On 24 March 2020, French Republic notified the Commission of an aid scheme in the form of a deferral of the payment of civil aviation tax and solidarity tax on airline tickets due on a monthly basis during the period from March to December 2020, accordingly with Article 108(3) TFUE. This aid is designed to guarantee that the airlines holding an operating license issued in France are able to maintain sufficient liquidity until the restrictions, prohibitions on movement are lifted, and normal commercial activity is resumed. With this measure, the French Republic differs the referred tax payment until the 1 January 2021 and then spreads payments over a period of 24 months, until 31 December 2022.

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