Judgment of the General Court of 7 February 2024 – Ryanair v Commission (KLM II; COVID-19)
(Case T-146/22) 1
(State aid – Aid granted by the Netherlands to KLM in the context of the COVID 19 pandemic – State guarantee for a bank loan and a subordinated loan by the State – Decision declaring the aid compatible with the internal market – Action for annulment – Locus standi – Substantial adverse effect on the applicant’s position on the market – Admissibility – Determination of the beneficiary of the aid in the context of a group of companies)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicant: Ryanair DAC (Swords, Ireland) (represented by: E. Vahida, F.-C. Laprévote, V. Blanc, D. Pérez de Lamo and S. Rating, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: C. Georgieva, J. Carpi Badía and M. Farley, acting as Agents)
Interveners in support of the defendant: French Republic (represented by: T. Stéhelin, B. Fodda, T. Lechevallier and P. Dodeller, acting as Agents), Kingdom of the Netherlands (represented by: M. Bulterman, C. Schillemans, E. Besselink and J. Langer, acting as Agents, and by S. Corrijn, lawyer), Société Air France (Tremblay-en-France, France), Air France-KLM (Paris, France) (represented by: J. Derenne and D. Vallindas, lawyers), Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij NV (Amstelveen, Netherlands) (represented by: K. Schillemans, P. Huizing and E. de Krom, lawyers)
Re:
By its action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicant seeks the annulment of Commission Decision C(2021) 5437 final of 16 July 2021 on State Aid SA.57116 (2020/N) – The Netherlands – COVID-19: State loan guarantee and State loan for KLM.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls Commission Decision C(2021) 5437 final of 16 July 2021 on State aid SA.57116 (2020/N) – The Netherlands – COVID-19: State loan guarantee and State loan for KLM;
Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by Ryanair DAC;
Orders the French Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Air France-KLM, Société Air France and Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij NV to bear their own respective costs.
____________
1 OJ C 198, 16.5.2022.