Court of Justice sets aside General Court’s judgment annulling Commission’s approval of granted by the Netherlands to KLM
In July 2020, the Commission had approved aid consisting of a State guarantee on a bank loan and a State loan intended to address KLM’s liquidity needs during the Covid-19 pandemic (SA.57116). Following the annullment of that decision (Case T-643/20), the Commission adopted a new decision in July 2021, finding that KLM and its subsidiaries were the sole beneficiaries of the measure, to the exclusion of the other companies within the Air France-KLM group. In February 2024, in Case T-146/22, the General Court annulled that second decision, finding that the Commission had wrongly excluded Air France and the Air France-KLM holding company from the beneficiaries.
The Court of Justice today confirmed that the General Court was entitled to rely on the concept of an “economic unit” when identifying the beneficiary but held that it erred in law by substituting its own assessment for that of the Commission without showing that the Commission’s conclusion was implausible. In particular, the Court found that the General Court had merely reassessed the same factors relied on by the Commission and had not demonstrated that the Commission was manifestly wrong in concluding that KLM and its subsidiaries were the sole beneficiaries, notably in light of the considerable economic autonomy of Air France and KLM.
The Court therefore set aside the General Court’s judgment, dismissed Ryanair’s action in part and referred the case back to the General Court to rule on the remaining pleas.
For more information, see the Court’s PR and judgment.