Judgment of the General Court of 14 April 2021 – Ryanair v Commission (SAS, Denmark; COVID-19)
(Case T-378/20) 1
(State aid – Danish air transport market – Aid granted by Denmark to an airline amid the COVID-19 pandemic – Guarantee – Decision not to raise any objections – Commitments as a condition to make the aid compatible with the internal market – Aid intended to make good the damage caused by an exceptional occurrence – Freedom of establishment – Free provision of services – Equal treatment – Duty to state reasons)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicant: Ryanair DAC (Swords, Ireland) (represented by: E. Vahida, F.C. Laprévote, S. Rating, I.G. Metaxas-Maranghidis and V. Blanc, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: F. Tomat, L. Flynn and S. Noë, acting as Agents)
Interveners in support of the defendant: Kingdom of Denmark (represented by: J. Nymann-Lindegren and M. Søndahl Wolff, acting as Agents, and by R. Holdgaard, lawyer), French Republic (represented by: E. de Moustier and P. Dodeller, acting as Agents), SAS AB (Stockholm, Sweden) (represented by: F. Sjövall, lawyer)
Re:
Application under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of Commission Decision C(2020) 2416 final of 15 April 2020 on State Aid SA.56795 (2020/N) – Denmark – Compensation for the damage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak to Scandinavian Airlines.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;
Orders Ryanair DAC to bear its own costs and to pay those of the European Commission, including the costs relating to the request for confidential treatment;
Orders the Kingdom of Denmark, the French Republic and SAS AB to bear their own costs.
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1 OJ C 255, 3.8.2020.