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… In particular, the Member States are free, in balancing the various interests involved, to set their priorities as regards the of the and, as a result, to determine which goods or services they are to decide to subject to an environmental levy. …

… of the and, as a result, to determine which goods or services they decide to subject to an environmental levy, with the result that the fact that such a levy does not apply to all similar activities which have a comparable impact on the environment does not mean that similar activities, which are not subject to the levy, benefit from a . 87 As the Advocate General noted in point 98 of his Opinion, that approach, which is based solely on a regard for the environmental …

… It follows that, in principle, the mere fact that an environmental levy constitutes a specific measure, which extends to certain designated goods or services, and cannot be seen as part of an overall system of taxation which applies to all similar activities which have a comparable impact on the , does not mean that similar activities, which are not subject to the levy, benefit from a . … 117 In that legal framework, since environmental levies constitute by their nature …

… In particular, the Member States are free, in balancing the various interests involved, to set their priorities as regards the of the and, as a result, to determine which goods or services they are to decide to subject to an environmental levy. …

… Findings of the Court 104 In this case, the dispute relates to the application of the criterion of selectivity by the Commission in the contested decision, when it rejected a classification of State aid on the ground that ‘the scope of the AGL is justified by the logic and nature of the tax system’ (point 43). 105 In order to constitute State aid for the purposes of Article 87(1) EC, a measure must, in particular, be capable of conferring a , to the exclusive benefit of certain …

… It follows that neither the fiscal nature nor the economic or social aim or the objectives of of the or of human safety can suffice to remove it completely from the outset from the scope of the article (see, as regards selective exemptions from social security charges, Case 173/73 Italy v Commission [1974] ECR 709, paragraphs 27 and 28, and Maribel, paragraph 25; as regards a selective interest subsidy scheme made available to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) aimed …

… At best, it has set out the grounds of general interest to which it is the aim or effect of the aid scheme at issue to contribute, that is, the of the and road safety. 54. Those grounds, however legitimate, and supposing them to be established, are ineffective at the stage of the assessment of a national measure with regard to Article 92(1) of the Treaty, as was noted at paragraph 46 above. 55. …

… Where that is the case, the measure at issue cannot, as a rule, be considered to be , even if it gives an to the undertakings who are able to benefit from it (see, to that effect, Joined Cases C-72/91 and C-73/91 Sloman Neptun [1993] ECR I-887, paragraph 21). 53. However, in the present case, the Kingdom of Spain has not produced any evidence of the existence of a system of charges in the general interest. …