Order of the General Court (Fourth Chamber) of 22 October 2021 –
Fachverband Spielhallen and LM v Commission

(Case T‑510/20)

(State aid – Tax treatment of operators of public casinos in Germany – Complaint – Preliminary examination stage – Commission decision finding that there is no State aid – Conditions for initiating a formal investigation procedure – Serious difficulties – Concept of ‘State aid’ – Levy on the profits – Advantage – Selectivity – Action manifestly lacking any foundation in law)

1.      State aid – Concept – Grant of an advantage to the beneficiaries – Distinction between the requirement for selectivity and the concomitant detection of an economic advantage – Tax measure reserving the partial deductibility of transfer of profits for operators of public casinos – Assessment of the advantages and burdens of that measure – Need to establish the advantage likely to be derived from the measure at the time of its adoption – No advantage

(Art. 107(1) TFEU)

(see paras 49-51, 55-58, 62, 67)

2.      State aid – Commission decision – Assessment of the legality by reference to the information available at the time of adoption of the decision

(Art. 107(1) TFEU)

(see para. 65)

3.      State aid – Examination by the Commission – Preliminary review and main review – Commission’s duty to initiate the main review procedure in the event of serious difficulties – Circumstances enabling the existence of such difficulties to be established – Burden of proof

(Arts 107(1) and 108(2) and (3) TFEU)

(see para. 68)

Re:

Application under Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of Commission Decision C(2019) 8819 final of 9 December 2019 on State aid SA.44944 (2019/C ex 2019/FC) – Tax treatment of public casinos operators in Germany and SA.53552 (2019/C ex 2019/FC) – Alleged guarantee for public casinos operators in Germany (Wirtschaftlichkeitsgarantie), inasmuch as it rejects the complaint lodged by the applicants against the fact that the sums paid by operators of public casinos to the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) as a levy on the profits were deductible from the tax bases for the trade tax and the income or corporation tax.

Operative part

1. The action is dismissed.

2. Fachverband Spielhallen eV and LM shall pay, in addition to their own costs, those incurred by the European Commission.

3. The Federal Republic of Germany shall bear its own costs.