Judgment of the General Court of 9 June 2021 — Ryanair v Commission (Condor; Covid-19)

(Case T-665/20) (1)

(State aid - German air transport market - Public loan guaranteed by Germany to Condor Flugdienst in the context of the COVID 19 pandemic - Decision not to raise any objections - Aid intended to make good the damage caused by an exceptional occurrence - Article 107(2)(b) TFEU - Assessment of damages - Causal link - Obligation to state reasons - Maintenance of the effects of the decision)

(2021/C 297/53)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Ryanair DAC (Swords, Ireland) (represented by: E. Vahida, F.C. Laprévote, V. Blanc, S. Rating and I.G. Metaxas-Maranghidis, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: L. Flynn, F. Tomat and V. Bottka, acting as Agents)

Interveners in support of the defendant: Federal Republic of Germany (represented by: J. Möller, R. Kanitz and P.L. Krüger, acting as Agents), French Republic (represented by: E. de Moustier and P. Dodeller, acting as Agents), Condor Flugdienst GmbH (Kelsterbach, Germany) (represented by: A. Birnstiel and S. Blazek, lawyers)

Re:

Application under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of Commission Decision C(2020) 2795 final of 26 April 2020 on State aid SA.56867 (2020/N, ex 2020/PN) — Germany — Compensation for the damage caused by the COVID 19 outbreak to Condor Flugdienst.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.	Annuls Commission Decision C(2020) 2795 final of 26 April 2020 on State aid SA.56867 (2020/N, ex 2020/PN) — Germany — Compensation for the damage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak to Condor Flugdienst GmbH;

2.

Suspends the effects of the annulment of that decision pending the adoption of a new decision by the Commission under Article 108 TFEU. Those effects are to be preserved for a period not exceeding two months from the date of delivery of this judgment if the Commission decides to adopt such a new decision under Article 108(3) TFEU, and for a reasonable further period if the Commission decides to initiate the procedure under Article 108(2) TFEU;

3.	Orders the Commission to bear its own costs, and to pay those incurred by Ryanair DAC;

4.	Orders the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic and Condor Flugdienst to bear their own costs.

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(1)  OJ C 443, 21.12.2020.