EU court rejects Ryanair’s appeal against state aid to TAP

The General Court of the European Union (EU) rejected Ryanair’s appeal on Wednesday against state aid totalling €1.2 billion given to TAP in 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis.Covid-19 crisis.

At issue is state aid worth up to €1.2 billion that Portugal granted to TAP Air Portugal, which was intended to keep the airline in business for six months, and which the European Commission authorised, according to a statement.

In the first phase, in June 2020, the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair contested the decision, which the General Court annulled in May 2021, arguing that the EU government had not indicated that the beneficiary belonged to a larger group of companies, which was necessary to examine whether TAP SGPS was eligible for rescue aid.

Once the error was corrected, Brussels re-authorised the granting of state aid to TAP in July 2021, stating in today’s ruling, which dismisses Ryanair’s appeal, that the conditions for eligibility for rescue aid were met.

For the General Court, ‘the principles of non-discrimination, freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment have also not been violated’, emphasising that ‘Ryanair’s claims that the Commission’s analysis was incomplete and insufficient and that the decision was not sufficiently reasoned are also rejected’.

Covid-19, an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, was first identified in December 2019 in China and has become a pandemic, killing millions of people and causing a global crisis.