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… as part of the system - Standard of review - Consistency - on non- grounds) I. …

… The sole decisive factor for the monitoring of is whether the national legislature manifestly discriminatory criteria in exercising its legislative powers in order to grant a in circumvention of the rules on . 33. …

… It is therefore necessary first to assess whether there is a . 1. Existence of a 23. In accordance with the settled case-law of the Court, for tax measures, must be determined in a ‘three-stage test’. …

… Provisional text JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (First Chamber) 26 September 2024 (*) (Appeal - - Article 107(1) TFEU - granted by Belgium to JCDecaux Street Furniture Belgium - Advertising displays installed in the City of Brussels (Belgium) - Non-payment of rent and taxes applicable to those displays - declared incompatible with the internal market - Obligation to recover that - Concept of ‘’ - Determination of the applicable legal - Method for calculating the amount …

… under Article 170(4) of the Belgian Constitution, adopted advertising tax regulations only as from 2001. …

… The first plea in law alleged a manifest error of assessment and an error of law in that the Commission found that the use of the displays at issue constituted an economic for the purposes of Article 107(1) TFEU. The third plea in law, put forward in the alternative, alleged a failure to reasons in the decision at issue as regards the assessment of the amount of to be recovered. 18 By the judgment under appeal, the General Court dismissed that action in its entirety. …

… could still be justified by the nature or overall structure of that and that it was for the Member concerned to show that such exists. …

… ; (iv) an error of law, distortion of the facts and infringement of the obligation to reasons as regards administrative practicability; and (v) an error of law as regards freedom of establishment. 51 ITV raises four pleas in law, alleging: (i) an error in the determination of the ; (ii) an error in the determination of a ; (iii) an error in the of the for the exemptions at issue; and (iv) an error in the application of the judgment …

… arguments, their arguments relate, fundamentally, to four issues, namely, first, the determination of the , second, the existence of a , third, the for the contested scheme by the need to enable the administrative practicability of the CFC rules and, fourth, the of that scheme by the need to respect freedom of establishment. 54 Moreover, the main part of the appeals concerns the challenge to the determination of the …

… The existence of a 33 In Section 8.2 of the decision at issue, the Commission followed the three-step analysis derived from case-law in order to prove the existence of a in the present case. Thus, first of all, it identified the and provided grounds for applying the arm’s length principle. Next, it examined whether there was a arising from a derogation from the . …

… in which EU tax law has been harmonised, it is the Member concerned which determines, by exercising its own competence in the matter of direct taxation and with due regard for its , the characteristics constituting the tax, which define, in principle, the system or the ‘normal’ tax regime, from which it is necessary to analyse the condition relating to . …

… (e) The Commission’s alternative line of reasoning concerning the existence of a resulting from the derogation from the that consists of section 25 of the TCA 97 43 Alternatively, the Commission argued, in recitals 369 to 403 of the decision at issue, that assuming that the did consist solely of section 25 of the TCA 97, the contested tax rulings had conferred a on ASI and AOE in the form of a reduction of their tax base …

… Next, ITV (Case C-556/22 P) raises four grounds of appeal, alleging: (i) an error in the determination of the ; (ii) an error in the determination of a ; (iii) an error in the of the for the exemptions at issue, and (iv) an error in the application of the judgment in Cadbury. 40. …

… As regards the nature of the exemptions at issue, the Commission considered that the consisted of the CFC rules and that those exemptions constituted a derogation from that . 8. …

… The arguments aimed at calling into question the choice of [] as part of the first step of the analysis of the existence of a are admissible, since that analysis derives from a legal classification of national law on the basis of a provision of EU law’. (16) 35. …

… Provisional text JUDGMENT OF THE GENERAL COURT (Tenth Chamber, Extended Composition) 20 December 2023 (*) ( - Taxation of port authorities in Italy - Exemption from corporate income tax - Decision declaring incompatible with the internal market - Existing - Concept of ‘undertaking’ - Concept of ‘economic activity’ - - - Distortion of competition - Effect on trade between Member - Equal ) In Case T-166/21, Autorità di sistema portuale del Mar …

… Legal Italian legislation on the administration of Italian ports 2 Article 28 of the codice della navigazione (Navigation Code) provides that the shore, beach, harbours and roadsteads belonging to the under Article 822 of the codice civile (Civil Code) constitute -owned maritime property. 3 Legge No 84 - Riordino della legislazione in materia portuale (Law No 84 reforming port legislation) of 28 January 1994 (Ordinary Supplement to GURI No 28 of 4 February 1994; ‘Law No 84/94 …

… Consequently, that exemption is capable of affecting trade between Member States and could distort competition (recitals 139 to 157 of the contested decision). 35 Fifthly, the Commission considers that the measure is . The IRES exemption derogates without valid from the principle of the Italian corporate tax system that IRES applies to all types of income generated by companies or by public or private entities other than companies which carry on economic activities. …

… JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Second Chamber) 14 December 2023 (*) (Appeal - - Article 107(1) TFEU - Tax ruling adopted by a Member - declared incompatible with the internal market - Concept of ‘’ - Determination of the - ‘Normal’ taxation according to national law - Arm’s length principle - Review by the Court of Justice of interpretation and application of national law by the General Court) In Case C-457/21 P, APPEAL under Article 56 of the Statute of the …

… The Commission described those methods in recitals 250 to 256 of the [decision at issue]. 2 Assessment of the tax ruling at issue … 44 As regards the third condition for the existence of [laid down in Article 107(1) TFEU], the Commission explained that, where a tax ruling endorses a result that does not reflect in a reliable manner what would result from a normal application of the ordinary tax system, without , that ruling will confer a on its addressee …

… (c) Description of the relevant national legal 37 As regards the relevant national legal , the Commission cited Article 164(3) of the [Law on income tax]. …

… RELEVANT LEGAL AND PRACTICE THE DOMESTIC LEGAL Provisions of the Basic Law 37. Article 7 of the Basic Law, on the school system, in so far as relevant, provides: “(1) The entire school system shall be under the supervision of the .” 38. …

… The group of persons to be considered “members of the administration of the ” had to be construed strictly, with one possible aspect that could be assigned to this concept being the exercise of public authority on behalf of the , and it would be excessive to consider all public service employees as “members of the administration of the ” (with to Enerji Yapı-Yol Sen, cited above, § 32). …

… The Permanent Court of International Justice in its advisory opinion of 4 February 1932 on of Polish Nationals and Other Persons of Polish Origin or Speech in the Danzig Territory (PCIJ, Series A/B, no. 44) held, in so far as relevant: “[62] It should however be observed that, while on the one hand, according to generally accepted principles, a cannot rely, as against another , on the provisions of the latter’s Constitution, but only on international law and international obligations …

… JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Grand Chamber) 5 December 2023 (*) (Appeal - - Article 107(1) TFEU - Tax rulings adopted by a Member - declared incompatible with the internal market - Obligation to recover that - Concept of ‘’ - Determination of the - ‘Normal’ taxation under national law - Review by the Court of Justice of the interpretation and application of national law by the General Court of the European Union - Direct taxation - Strict interpretation …

… The first two concern the existence of a at the level of the holding companies, in the light, first of all, of a encompassing the Luxembourg corporate income tax system and, next, of a limited to the provisions of Luxembourg law on the taxation of profit distributions and the exemption of income from participations. …

… The third line of reasoning relates to the existence of an at the level of the Engie group, in the light of a encompassing the Luxembourg corporate income tax system. …

… The question and the course of the investigation 14. According to the question for a preliminary ruling, the court raises the question of the ‘ tax ’ of Romanian companies according to the place where, with their employees, they provide services in the construction sector. However, the in tax provided for by Romanian law is limited to an exemption from tax on workers’ employment income. …

… for an employer who is subject to an obligation to deduct tax from wages at source - in the form of an employee income tax exemption) I. …

… Therefore, there is already no in favour of an undertaking. The applicant company has not claimed, and the court has not in its request for a preliminary ruling, that there is any other indirect advantage on the part of particular Romanian construction companies. 19. Secondly, an examination in the light of Articles 107 and 108 TFEU is not necessary in any event in order to resolve the dispute in the main proceedings. …