The General Court of the European Union (EU), of first instance, annulled this Wednesday the decision of the European Commission that approved state aid of six billion euros from Germany for the recapitalization of Lufthansa during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The General Court annuls the decision of the Commission that approved the recapitalization of Lufthansa carried out by Germany, for an amount of six billion euros, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic”, reports that body, in a statement released today.
According to the press release, the General Court maintains in this judgment that “the Commission made several errors, in particular when considering that Lufthansa could not find financing in the markets to cover all its needs.”
However, according to the court, it “did not require a mechanism that would encourage Lufthansa to win back Germany’s participation as soon as possible, when it denied that Lufthansa had significant market power at certain airports and when it accepted certain commitments that did not guarantee the preservation of effective competition in the market.
The lawsuit was filed by the low-cost airline Ryanair, which was challenging various state aids granted to the airline industry during the pandemic, specifically in relation to TAP.
Source: TSF
