Judgment of the General Court of 26 February 2019 — Athletic Club v Commission
(Case T-679/16) 1
(State aid — Aid granted by the Spanish authorities to certain professional football clubs — Preferential tax rate on the income of the clubs authorised to operate as non-profit organisations — Decision declaring that the aid is incompatible with the internal market — Action for annulment — Interest in bringing proceedings — Admissibility — Infra-State measure — Selective nature — Distortion of competition — Effect on trade between Member States — Alteration to existing aid — Duty to state reasons)
Language of the case: Spanish
Parties
Applicant: Athletic Club (Bilbao, Spain) (represented by: E. Lucas Murillo de la Cueva and J.M. Luís Carrasco, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: G. Luengo, B. Stromsky and P. Němečková, Agents)
Re:
Action under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of Articles 1, 4 and 5 of Commission Decision (EU) 2016/2391 of 4 July 2016 on the State aid SA.29769 (2013/C) (ex 2013/NN) implemented by Spain for certain football clubs (OJ 2016 L 357, p.1), in so far as they concern the applicant.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;
Orders Athletic Club to pay the costs.
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1 OJ C 419, 14.11.2016.