Ryanair has lost an appeal at the European Court of Justice against support measures from the governments of Sweden and France to their airlines at the beginning of the pandemic.
France allowed operators with a French air operator’s certificate to defer certain taxes, while Sweden allowed its certificate holders to secure government guarantees for loans. Ryanair argued:
- that the General Court wrongly rejected the plea at first instance alleging infringement of the principle of non-discrimination;
- that there was a manifest distortion of the facts in the examination of the plea alleging infringement of the free movement of services;
- that the General Court erred in law in rejecting the application of a balancing test for the beneficial and adverse effects of the aid scheme;
- that there was a manifest distortion of the facts in the General Court holding that the Commission had not infringed its obligation to state reasons under the second paragraph of Article 296 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; and
- that there was a distortion of the facts through the General Court deciding not to examine the substance of a plea alleging infringement of the appellant’s procedural rights.
The court rejected all five of Ryanair’s arguments in challenging this decision. The court affirmed that the aid measures did not violate principles of non-discrimination or free movement of services, and also dismissed claims of infringement of procedural rights.
As a result, Ryanair has been ordered to pay its costs as well as the European Union’s costs, while Sweden and France will bear their own expenses.
