Appeal brought on 6 December 2023 by Dow Silicones Corp. and Others against the judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber, Extended Composition) delivered on 20 September 2023 in Cases T-858/16 and T-867/16, Dow Silicones and Others v Commission

(Case C-752/23 P)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Appellants: Dow Silicones Corp., formerly Dow Corning Corp.; Dow Silicones Belgium, formerly Dow Corning Europe; Vinventions, formerly Nomacorc (represented by: H. Gilliams, L. Goossens, advocaten)

Other party to the proceedings: European Commission

Form of order sought

The Appellants claim that the Court should:

set aside the judgment under appeal;

order the Commission to pay the costs of the proceedings of Appellants in the present case, as well as in Cases T‑858/16 and T‑867/16, and

annul Commission Decision 2016/1699¹ or, in any event, Article 2 thereof.

Or, in the alternative:

set aside the judgment under appeal, and

refer the Case back to the General Court.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The first ground of appeal is directed against the finding in the judgment under appeal that Commission Decision 2016/1699 correctly defined the reference framework and also was justified in finding that the scheme derogates from the reference system.

The second ground of appeal is directed against the finding in the judgment under appeal that Commission Decision 2016/1699 was justified in qualifying the scheme as a selective measure.

The third ground of appeal is directed against the finding in the judgment under appeal that the recovery order, as expressed in Commission Decision 2016/1699, was justified.

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¹ Commission Decision (EU) 2016/1699 of 11 January 2016 on the excess profit exemption State aid scheme SA.37667 (2015/C) (ex 2015/NN) implemented by Belgium (OJ 2016, L 260, p. 61).