Judgment of the General Court of 27 April 2017 — Germanwings v Commission
(Case T-375/15) 1
(State aid — Aid for an airline using Zweibrücken airport — Benefit — Whether imputable to the State — Obligation to state reasons — Legitimate expectations — Access to documents — Documents relating to a procedure for reviewing State aid — Refusal to grant access to the documents requested — Exception relating to the protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits)
Language of the case: German
Parties
Applicant: Germanwings GmbH (Cologne, Germany) (represented by: A. Martin-Ehlers, lawyer)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: A. Buchet, T. Maxian Rusche, R. Sauer and K. Herrman, then by A. Buchet, T. Rusche, K. Herrman and S. Noë, acting as Agents)
Re:
Application based on Article 263 TFEU and seeking, first, partial annulment of Commission Decision (EU) 2016/152 of 1 October 2014 on State aid SA 27339 (12/C) (ex 11/NN) implemented by Germany for Zweibrücken airport and airlines using the airport (OJ 2016 L 34, p. 68), and, second, annulment of Commission Decision GESTDEM 2015/1288 of 11 May 2015 refusing partial access to the administrative file in respect of State Aid procedure SA.27339.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls Article 1(2), in so far as it concerns the first agreement concluded between Flughafen Zweibrücken GmbH and Germanwings GmbH, and Article 3(4)(e) of Commission Decision (EU) 2016/152 of 1 October 2014 on State aid SA 27339 (12/C) (ex 11/NN) implemented by Germany for Zweibrücken airport and airlines using the airport (OJ 2016 L 34, p. 68);
Dismisses the action as to the remainder;
Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay three quarters of those incurred by Germanwings;
Orders Germanwings to bear one quarter of its own costs.
____________1 OJ C 337, 12.10.2015.