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… Moreover, the Kingdom of Spain’s argument concerning the ‘de facto ’ of the tax regime in question cannot prosper since it severs the concept of from the grant of an , which, for the reasons set out above, is not possible, in the absence of prior identification of a system constituting a . …

… Inasmuch as European Union law does not have any default tax system, the must remain the national or the one identified in accordance with the Azores case-law. Consequently, if the Court of Justice considers that Gibraltar may in itself constitute an appropriate , it is appropriate to adhere to the traditional analysis of an and . C - Material in the field of direct taxation 176. …

… I am of the opinion that a measure liable to constitute which is awarded in an indirect form, such as a tax measure, cannot be defined without a . (86) The opposite approach would lead to confusion between the concept of and that of , because in my view the of a measure involves an unequal distribution of the as between undertakings which are in a comparable situation. …

… Nor, according to the Commission, does that a posteriori theoretical reflect the normal application of French tax law: rather, it is designed solely to prevent recovery of the granted to FT (recital 40 of the contested decision). 70 Secondly, the Commission found that the tax differential represented an for FT, granted from resources which should have been incorporated into the budget of the and accordingly constituted (recital 42 of the contested …

… The French Republic also argued that, overall, FT’s tax regime constituted not a tax exemption, but taxation organised in accordance with specific rules, a mechanism quite from . …

… of and on its compatibility with the common market. …

… The granted under this provision may not be combined with any other in respect of the same investment. …

… which permits the granting [of ] without any further procedure; in other words, if there is no discretion’. …

… (b) Findings of the Court 158 It should be observed that the specific nature of a measure, namely its application, constitutes one of the characteristics of within the meaning of Article 87(1) EC. …

… JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (Eighth Chamber, Extended Composition) 11 June 2009 (*) ( - Scheme of granted by the Italian authorities to certain public utilities in the form of tax exemptions and loans at preferential rates - Decision declaring the incompatible with the common market - Actions for annulment - Individual concern - Admissibility - Existing or new - Article 87(3)(c) EC) In Case T-301/02, AEM SpA, established in Milan (Italy), represented by A. …

… It states that the Italian Republic ‘did not grant the tax on an individual basis or notify any individual cases to [it], together with all the information necessary for the Commission to assess it’. …

… Di Bucci, acting as Agent, defendant, APPLICATION for annulment of Articles 2 and 3 of Commission Decision 2003/193/EC of 5 June 2002 on granted by Italy in the form of tax exemptions and subsidised loans to public utilities with a majority public capital holding (OJ 2003 L 77, p. 21), THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (Eighth Chamber, Extended Composition), composed of M.E. Martins Ribeiro, President, D. Šváby, S. Papasavvas, N. Wahl (Rapporteur) and A. …

… rules, the appropriate can only be that constituted by the United Kingdom tax regime. 64 The Commission notes that Article 87 EC to ‘granted by a Member ’ which affects trade between Member . …

… It follows that the must be none other than that provided by the United Kingdom. 66 The Commission contests, moreover, the relevance of the degree of of the infra- body for the purposes of applying the concept of . It submits that that argument is also posited on acceptance of the premiss that Gibraltar is part of the United Kingdom. …

… tax reform was regionally : first, it considered, in essence, that the could only be the territory of the Member concerned because of the general scheme of the Treaty and of the rules in particular, and that the extent of the infra- body’s in relation to central government was not relevant for the purposes of determining that ; second, it based its conclusion on the role played by the United Kingdom authorities in defining the political …

… In situation 1, the measure is undoubtedly . Because here the national level establishes both the general standard and the regional , only the as a whole can be taken as the . 47. In situation 2, there is no ‘normal taxation’ applying to the national territory as a whole from which the rules of the individual local or regional authorities depart in an manner. …

… The relevant local rules therefore stand in isolation and are not . (24) 48. This is similar to the relationship between the Member ’ tax rules. Since direct taxation falls within the competence of the Member , (25) corporation tax rates are not harmonised, but considerably from one Member to the next. …

… The crucial factor is the level of enjoyed by the local and regional authorities in their legislative activity. 50. If the central actually determines the content of the local rules and/or bears the relevant economic consequences, there is no real . The local rules are attributable to the central . Its general rules form the benchmark for assessing whether the local rules accord a . …

… JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (Second Chamber, Extended Composition) 12 September 2007 (*) (State aid - Restructuring aid granted by the Hellenic Republic to the airline Olympic Airways - Decision declaring the aid incompatible with the common market and ordering its recovery - Misuse of the aid - New aid - Burden of proof - Right to be heard - Private creditor test - Error of fact - Manifest error of assessment - Statement of reasons - Article 87(1) and (3)(c) EC) In Case T-68/03, Olympiaki …

… In order to assess the questions to the Court, it is also useful to reproduce a number of other sections of the Spanish legislation on public procurement, which determine the legal in which Tragsa operated, and still operates, on the basis of its legal status as a public undertaking. …

… In considering Asemfo’s appeal against the decision of the Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo (Chamber for Contentious Administrative Proceedings) of the Audiencia Nacional (National High Court), the Spanish Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court) eventually decided that it needed to questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling. II - Legal A - National legislation 3. …

… The question is very much whether such an arrangement is consistent with the principle laid down in Article 86(1) EC, which prohibits such forms of unequal . (21) 83. …

… JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Grand Chamber) 6 September 2006 (*) (Action for annulment - -Decision 2003/442/EC- Tax measures adopted by a regional or local authority - Reductions on the rate of income tax for natural and legal persons having their tax residence in the Azores - Classification as - nature - by the nature and overall structure of the tax system - Obligation to reasons - Compatibility with the common market) In Case C-88/03, ACTION for annulment …

… Furthermore, the legislative assemblies of those regions have exclusive power under the conditions laid down by a law adopted by the Portuguese Republic’s National Assembly, to exercise their own competence and to adapt taxes to regional particularities. 10 By Law No 13/98 of 24 February 1998 on the finances of the autonomous regions (lei No 13/98 de 24 de Fevereiro. …

… Legal background Community law 2 Article 87(1) EC : ‘Save as otherwise provided in this Treaty, any granted by a Member or through resources in any form whatsoever which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favouring certain undertakings or the production of certain goods shall, insofar as it affects trade between Member , be incompatible with the common market’. 3 The Commission Notice of 10 December 1998 on the application of the rules to measures …

… If, as is the Commission’s position, we should in all cases take as the for the entire territory of the Member , then prima facie all national tax variations limited to a geographic subsection of a Member qualify as ‘geographically’ (in contrast to ‘material’ , where a measure favours undertakings in a certain industry or sector of the economy). In this case, the rules may be applied to reduce distortions of competition. 46. …

… Undertakings resident within and without the region are thus operating within legal and economic which cannot be compared. 55. If all of these senses of exist when a local authority decides to institute a tax rate lower than the national rate, this decision cannot be classed as ‘’ for Article 87(1) EC purposes. …

… In the United Kingdom’s submission, the question of characterisation of a regional taxation system for purposes raises broader regional issues of considerable constitutional importance. …