Ryanair loses legal suit against Portuguese State support for TAP in European Union Court

 In Airlines, Aviation, Lawsuits, News, Ryanair

The General Court of the European Union (CJEU) has dismissed Ryanair’s appeal opposing the Portuguese State’s financial support for national airline TAP, approved during the pandemic, which the competing Irish airline considered illegal. Ryanair can appeal.

“The General Court considers that the Commission has not violated the conditions of eligibility for rescue aid,” it points out in a statement on the judgment, released this Wednesday.

The entity approves the European Commission’s understanding that the rescue aid to TAP “met an objective of common interest, which was adequate and proportionate” and that it “cannot be accused of having carried out an incomplete examination of the negative effects of the aid measure in question”.

The General Court also finds that “the principles of non-discrimination, freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment have also not been violated” and rejects Ryanair’s claims that the Commission’s analysis was incomplete and insufficient and that the decision was insufficiently reasoned.

This was the second time the low-cost air carrier led by Michael O’Leary had challenged the state’s €1.2 billion emergency loan, granted in July 2020 and then converted into capital. At the time, Brussels considered it to be State aid, but considered it compatible with the rules of the internal market.

In the first action, the General Court upheld Ryanair, forcing the European Commission to readopt its decision, which the Irish airline also challenged, and now the decision is dismissed.

Ryanair may appeal to the Court of Justice, “limited to questions of law, the decision of the General Court, within two months and ten days of its notification”.