Judgment of the General Court of 26 February 2019 — Fútbol Club Barcelona v Commission
(Case T-865/16) 1
(State aid — Aid granted by the Spanish authorities in favour of certain professional football clubs — Preferential income tax rate applied to clubs authorised to benefit from the status of non-profit entity — Decision declaring the aid to be incompatible with the internal market — Freedom of establishment — Advantage)
Language of the case: Spanish
Parties
Applicant: Fútbol Club Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain) (represented by initially, J. Roca Sagarra, J. del Saz Cordero, R. Vallina Hoset, A. Sellés Marco and C. Iglesias Megías, then J. Roca Sagarra, J. del Saz Cordero, R. Vallina Hoset and A. Sellés Marco, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: G. Luengo, B. Stromsky and P. Němečková, acting as Agents)
Intervener in support of the applicant: Kingdom of Spain (represented by: initially, A. Gavela Llopis and J. García-Valdecasas Dorrego, then A. Gavela Llopis, acting as Agents)
Re:
Action under Article 263 TFEU for annulment 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).
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls 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;
Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs as well as those incurred by the Fútbol Club Barcelona;
Orders the Kingdom of Spain to bear its own costs.
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1 OJ C 30, 30.1.2017.