Judgment of the General Court of 20 December 2023 – Ryanair and Malta Air v Commission (Air France; COVID-19)
(Case T-216/21) 1
(State aid – Aid granted by France to Air France 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
Applicants: Ryanair DAC (Swords, Ireland), Malta Air ltd. (Pietà, Malta) (represented by: F.-C. Laprévote, E. Vahida, V. Blanc, S. Rating, I.-G. Metaxas-Maranghidis and D. Pérez de Lamo, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: L. Flynn, J. Carpi Badía and C. Georgieva, acting as Agents)
Interveners in support of the defendant: Federal Republic of Germany (represented by: P.-L. Krüger, acting as Agent), French Republic (represented by: T. Stéhelin, P. Dodeller, T. Lechevallier and B. Fodda, acting as Agents), Kingdom of the Netherlands (represented by: M. Bulterman, J. Langer and C. Schillemans, acting as Agents, and by S. Corrijn, lawyer), Air France-KLM (Paris, France) (represented by: J. Derenne and D. Vallindas, lawyers), Société Air France (Tremblay-en-France, France) (represented by: J. Derenne and D. Vallindas, lawyers)
Re:
By their action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicants seek the annulment of Commission Decision C(2020) 2983 final of 4 May 2020 on State Aid SA.57082 (2020/N) – France – COVID-19 – Temporary Framework 107(3)(b) – Guarantee and shareholder loan for Air France, as corrected by Decisions C(2020) 9384 final of 17 December 2020 and C(2021) 5701 final of 26 July 2021.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls Commission Decision C(2020) 2983 final of 4 May 2020 on State Aid SA.57082 (2020/N) – France – COVID-19 – Temporary Framework 107(3)(b) – Guarantee and shareholder loan for Air France, as corrected by Decisions C(2020) 9384 final of 17 December 2020 and C(2021) 5701 final of 26 July 2021;
Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay those of Ryanair DAC and Malta Air ltd.;
Orders the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Air France-KLM and Société Air France to bear their own costs.
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1 OJ C 217, 7.6.2021.