The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has confirmed the nullification of the EU Commission’s decision that had initially approved billions of euros in aid for Lufthansa during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The situation began when the Commission had classified the EUR 6 billion recapitalization as state aid that it deemed compatible with the internal market, doing so without initiating a formal review procedure. Challenging this decision were the airlines Ryanair and Condor. Following their lawsuit, the initial EU court declared the Commission’s decision void in May 2023.
Lufthansa subsequently filed an appeal, which the CJEU has now dismissed. The court determined that the Commission had breached the established temporary framework by accepting the specific modalities for setting the share price when converting the private equity stake II into equity. Despite the Luxembourg judges concluding that the court had applied overly stringent standards in certain particular areas, the CJEU nevertheless confirmed the invalidation of the Commission’s original decision.
