Action brought on 18 May 2010 - Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria v Commission

(Case T-225/10)

Language of the case: Spanish

Parties

Applicant: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, SA (Bilbao, Spain) (represented by: J. Buendía Sierra, E. Abad Valdenebro, M. Muñoz de Juan and R. Calvo Salinero, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

Annulment of Article 1(1) of the contested decision in so far as it states that Article 12(5) TRLIS (Amended Law on Corporation Tax) contains elements of State aid;

In the alternative, annulment of Article 1(1) of the contested decision in so far as it states that Article 12(5) TRLIS contains elements of State aid where it applies to share acquisitions which result in acquisition of control; and

Order the Commission to pay the costs of the proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The decision against which the present action is brought is the same as that contested in Cases T-219/10 Autogrill España v Commission and T-221/10 Iberdrola v Commission.

The pleas and main arguments are similar to those relied on in the context of those cases.

They allege, in essence, errors of law both in the legal classification of the measure as State aid and in identifying the beneficiaries of that measure.

____________