The European Court of Justice said
Wednesday that it has annulled the European Commission's
decision to approve a 130-million-euro aid package Italy paid to
Italian airlines in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In upholding a Ryanair petition against the package, the court
said the Commission had failed to provide a statement of reasons
for its finding that the measure was not contrary to EU law
provisions other than those governing State aid.
"According to settled case-law, a decision not to initiate the
formal investigation procedure in respect of notified aid must
set out the reasons for which the Commission takes the view that
it is not faced with serious difficulties in assessing the
compatibility of the aid at issue with the internal market," the
court said.
"Although a succinct statement of reasons is sufficient for that
purpose, it must disclose in a clear and unequivocal fashion the
reasons for which the
Commission considered that it was not faced with such
difficulties.
"The General Court finds that that has not been done here".
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