Case T‑165/16

(publication by extracts)

Ryanair DAC, formerly Ryanair Ltd,
and
Airport Marketing Services Ltd

v

European Commission

(State aid — Agreements concluded with the airline Ryanair and its subsidiary Airport Marketing Services — Airport services — Marketing services — Decision declaring the aid to be incompatible with the internal market and ordering its recovery — Notion of State aid — Advantage — Private investor test — Recovery — Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Access to the file — Right to be heard)

Summary — Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber, Extended Composition), 13 December 2018

1. State aid — Administrative procedure — Obligations of the Commission — No possibility of the aid beneficiary relying on rights as extensive as rights of the defence as such — Right of the aid beneficiary to be involved in the procedure to the extent appropriate — Scope

   (Art. 108(2) TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41)

2. State aid — Concept — Selective nature of the measure — Distinction between the requirement for selectivity and the concomitant detection of an economic advantage and between an aid scheme and individual aid — Individual aid– Airport and marketing services agreements resulting in an advantage for an airline — Presumption of selectivity — Need to compare the beneficiary with other operators in a comparable factual and legal situation — None

   (Art. 107(1) TFEU)

3. State aid — Concept — Assessment in accordance with the private investor test — Complex evaluation of economic matters — Discretion of the Commission — Judicial review — Limits

   (Art. 107(1) TFEU)

4. State aid — Concept — Assessment in accordance with the private investor test — Assessment of all factors relevant to the transaction at issue and its context — No hierarchy between the comparative analysis method and the other assessment methods

   (Art. 107(1) TFEU)

5. State aid — Concept — Assessment in accordance with the private investor test — Assessment of all factors relevant to the transaction at issue and its context — Complex set of agreements formed by airport and marketing services agreements — Analysis of the profitability of that complex set of agreements

   (Art. 107(1) TFEU)

6. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Commission decision on State aid — Examination of the private investor test — Requirement for specific reasoning in respect of each technical choice or element for which figures are given — None

   (Art. 296 TFEU)

7. State aid — Concept — Assessment in the light of Article 107(1) TFEU — Taking into account previous practice — Not included

   (Art. 107(1) TFEU)

1.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 52-55, 57, 68, 71)

2.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 82-91)

3.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 98-101)

4.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 105-109)

5.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 120-132, 166-169, 181-195, 204-224, 244-275)

6.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 136-143)

7.  See the text of the decision.

   (see para. 201)