Judgment of the General Court of 16 March 2016 — Frucona Košice v Commission

(Case T-103/14) ¹

(State aid — Excise duties — Partial remission of a tax debt in the context of an arrangement — Decision declaring the aid to be incompatible with the internal market and ordering its recovery — Rights of the defence — Procedural rights of the interested parties — Private creditor test — Burden of proof)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Frucona Košice a.s. (Košice, Slovakia) (represented by: K. Lasok QC, B. Hartnett, Barrister, O. Geiss, lawyer, and J. Holmes, Barrister)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: L. Armati, P.-J. Loewenthal and K. Walkerová, acting as Agents)

Re:

Application for annulment of Commission Decision 2014/342/EU of 16 October 2013 on State aid No SA.18211 (C 25/2005) (ex NN 21/2005) granted by the Slovak Republic for Frucona Košice a.s. (OJ 2014 L 176, p. 38).

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Annuls Commission Decision 2014/342/EU of 16 October 2013 on State aid No SA.18211 (C 25/2005) (ex NN 21/2005) granted by the Slovak Republic for Frucona Košice a.s.;

Orders the Commission to bear, in addition to its own costs, the costs incurred by Frucona Košice, including those incurred in connection with the proceedings for interim measures.

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¹ OJ C 112, 14.4.2014.