Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 27 April 2017 — Germanwings v Commission

(Case T‑375/15)

(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)

1.      Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Identification of the subject-matter of the dispute — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based

(Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 21, first para., and 53, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 76(d))

(see para. 23)

2.      Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Commission decision on State aid — Examination of the private investor test — No requirement for specific reasoning in respect of each technical choice or element for which figures given

(Arts 107 TFEU, 108 TFEU and 296 TFEU)

(see paras 32, 34, 35, 42, 45, 47, 49, 50, 116)

3.      Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Commission decision on State aid — Relationship between the obligation to state reasons and observation of professional secrecy

(Arts 296 TFEU and 339 TFEU)

(see para. 33)

4.      State aid — Concept — Legal nature — Interpretation on the basis of objective factors — Taking into account previous practice — Precluded

(Art. 107(1) TFEU)

(see paras 58, 77, 83)

5.      State aid — Concept — Assessment according to the criterion of the private investor — Assessment of all factors relevant to the transaction at issue and its context — Account taken of available information and foreseeable developments at the time the decision on the measure in question was taken

(Arts 107 TFEU and 108(1) and (3) TFEU)

(see paras 64-66)

6.      State aid — Concept — Assessment according to the criterion of the private investor — Complex evaluation of economic matters — Discretion of the Commission — Judicial review — Limits

(Art. 107(1) TFEU)

(see para. 67)

7.      State aid — Administrative procedure — Obligations of the Commission — Diligent and impartial examination — Undertaking not carrying on its market activities in normal conditions of competition with private operators

(Art. 108(2) TFEU)

(see para. 68)

8.      State aid — Concept — Assessment according to the criterion of the private investor — State shareholder of an undertaking — State acting as a public authority — Distinction as regards application of the private investor criterion

(Art. 107(1) TFEU)

(see para. 76)

9.      State aid — Commission decision — Assessment of the legality by reference to the information available at the time of adoption of the decision

(Art. 108(2) TFEU)

(see para. 85)

10.    Actions for annulment — Actionable measures — Decision of an institution refusing access to documents — Documents communicated during the proceedings — Application devoid of purpose — No need to adjudicate

(Art. 263 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001)

(see para. 109)

11.    EU institutions — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the right of access to documents — Protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits — Scope — Application to administrative files relating to procedures for reviewing State aid — General presumption that the exception applies to the right of access to all the documents on the administrative file — Limits

(Art. 108(2) TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2), third indent)

(see paras 122, 123)

12.    Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Pleas in law not set out in the application — General reference to other documents — Inadmissibility

(Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 76)

(see para. 127)

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

The Court:

1. 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);

2. Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

3. Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay three quarters of those incurred by Germanwings;

4. Orders Germanwings to bear one quarter of its own costs.