Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2014:838
Date: 2014-09-26
Language of the case: Danish
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Subject matter: State aids;Competition
Procedure: Action for annulment - inadmissible
Origin: Denmark

Judgment of the General Court of 26 September 2014 — Royal Scandinavian Casino Århus v Commission (Case T-615/11) 1 (Action for annulment — State aid — Online games — Introduction in Denmark of taxes lower for online games than for casinos and gaming rooms — Decision declaring the aid compatible with the internal market — Aid intended to facilitate the development of certain activities — Lack of individual concern — Regulatory act entailing implementing measures — Inadmissibility) Language of the case: Danish Parties Applicant: Royal Scandinavian Casino Århus I/S (Aarhus, Denmark) (represented by: B. Jacobi, lawyer) Defendant: European Commission (represented initially by M. Afonso and C. Barslev, subsequently by M. Afonso and L. Grønfeldt, acting as Agents) Interveners in support of the defendant: Kingdom of Denmark (represented initially by C. Vang, subsequently by V. Pasternak Jørgensen and lastly by C. Thorning, acting as Agents, and K. Lundgaard Hansen, lawyer); Republic of Malta (represented by: P. Grech and A. Buhagiar, acting as Agents); Betfair Group plc (London, United Kingdom) and Betfair International Ltd (Santa Venera, Malta) (represented by: O. Brouwer and A. Pliego Selie, lawyers); European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) (Brussels, Belgium) (represented by: C.-D. Ehlermann, J. C. Heithecker and J. Ylinen, lawyers) Re: Application for annulment of Commission Decision 2012/140/EU of 20 September 2011 on the measure C 35/10 (ex N 302/10) which Denmark is planning to implement in the form of duties for online gambling in the Danish Gaming Duties Act (OJ 2012 L 69, p. 3). Operative part of the judgment The Court: Dismisses the action; Orders Royal Scandinavian Casino Århus I/S, in addition to bearing its own costs, to pay those incurred by the European Commission, Betfair Group plc, Betfair International Ltd and the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA). Orders the Kingdom of Denmark and the Republic of Malta to bear their own costs. ____________ ____________ 1 OJ C 32, 4.2.2012.