Ryanair v European Commission: The European Court of First Instance's Judgment on Alleged State Aid at Charleroi Airport

Abstract

This article describes and discusses the judgment of the General Court of the European Union in the Charleroi case taken by Ryanair in which the Court annulled the Commission finding that there was illegal State aid. The article is written by one of the lawyers who represented Ryanair in the case but he relied on publicly available information only. The case also considers the application of the Market Economy Investor Principle in the context of airports. The article also examines the application of the State aid rules to airports generally

Keywords: State aid - Airports - Charleroi - Ryanair - Market Economy Investor Principle - General Court - European Commission - Annulment of Commission Decisions - MEIP

JEL Classification: K21