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Ryanair v European Commission, General Court of the European Union
The taxpayer airline lodged a complaint with the European Commission (EC) that Ireland’s non-application of its air travel tax to transit and transfer passengers constituted illegal state aid, which benefited rival companies because they had a high proportion of relevant passengers and flights.
The commission disagreed. The taxpayer challenged the decision, saying the EC had erred in law and should have opened a formal investigation under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (EU), article 108(2).
The General Court of the EU found the duration of the commission’s preliminary investigation phase was excessive and that there were no circumstances to justify it. The EC’s examination was incomplete and insufficient; the commission did not have the information necessary to carry out a complete analysis of the selectivity of the measure.
The EC’s decision that the non-application of the air travel tax did not constitute state aid was annulled.
