Judgment of the General Court of 20 March 2024 – Grupo Morera & Vallejo and DSA v Commission
(Case T-519/14) 1
(State aid – Aid granted by the Spanish authorities to certain economic interest groupings (EIGs) and their investors – Tax regime applicable to certain finance lease agreements for the purchase of ships (Spanish Tax Lease System) – Decision declaring the aid incompatible in part with the internal market and ordering its recovery in part – Partial disappearance of the subject matter of the dispute – No need to adjudicate in part – New aid – Recovery – Contractual clauses protecting the beneficiaries against the recovery of unlawful State aid incompatible with the internal market – Division of powers between the Commission and the national authorities)
Language of the case: Spanish
Parties
Applicants: Grupo Morera & Vallejo, SL (Seville, Spain), DSA, Defensa y Servicios del Asegurado, SA (Seville) (represented by: E. Navarro Varona, P. Vidal Martínez, G. Canalejo Lasarte, J. López-Quiroga Teijero and A. Pérez Hernández, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: J. Carpi Badía and P. Němečková, acting as Agents, assisted by M. Segura Catalán, lawyer)
Interveners in support of the applicants: Inmobiliaria Osuna, SL (Granada, Spain), Tinar Olympic, SL (Madrid, Spain) (represented by: E. Navarro Varona, P. Vidal Martínez, G. Canalejo Lasarte, J. López-Quiroga Teijero and A. Pérez Hernández, lawyers)
Re:
By their action based on Article 263 TFEU, the applicants seek the annulment of Commission Decision 2014/200/EU of 17 July 2013 on the State aid scheme SA.21233 C/11 (ex NN/11, ex CP 137/06) implemented by Spain – Tax scheme applicable to certain finance lease agreements also known as the Spanish Tax Lease System (OJ 2014 L 114, p. 1).
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Declares that there is no longer any need to adjudicate on the action in so far as it is directed against Article 1 of Commission Decision 2014/200/EU of 17 July 2013 on the State aid scheme SA.21233 C/11 (ex NN/11, ex CP 137/06) implemented by Spain – Tax scheme applicable to certain finance lease agreements also known as the Spanish Tax Lease System, inasmuch as it designates the economic interest groupings and their investors as the sole recipients of the aid referred to in that decision, and Article 4(1) of that decision, inasmuch as it orders the Kingdom of Spain to recover in full the amount of aid referred to in that decision from the economic interest groupings’ investors which benefitted from it;
Dismisses the action as to the remainder;
Orders each party to bear its own costs.
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1 OJ C 303, 8.9.2014.