Case T-525/20: Judgment of the General Court of 13 September 2023 — ITD and Danske Fragtmænd v Commission (State aid — Postal and road haulage sector — Complaint from a competitor — Capital contribution granted by a public undertaking to its subsidiary — Decision finding no State aid after the preliminary examination stage — Parent company of the group jointly controlled by two Member States — Approval of the capital contribution by the parent company of the group — Whether imputable to the State)
Date: 2023-09-13
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: Denmark, State aid, Sweden, capital increase, carriage of goods, control of State aid, parent company, postal service, public sector, road transport, subsidiary








C_202300513EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2023/513


6.11.2023





Judgment of the General Court of 13 September 2023 — ITD and Danske Fragtmænd v Commission
(Case T-525/20) (1)

(State aid - Postal and road haulage sector - Complaint from a competitor - Capital contribution granted by a public undertaking to its subsidiary - Decision finding no State aid after the preliminary examination stage - Parent company of the group jointly controlled by two Member States - Approval of the capital contribution by the parent company of the group - Whether imputable to the State)
(C/2023/513)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicants: ITD, Brancheorganisation for den danske vejgodstransport (Padborg, Denmark), Danske Fragtmænd A/S (Åbyhøj, Denmark) (represented by: L. Sandberg-Mørch, lawyer)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: L. Flynn, acting as Agent)

Intervener in support of the applicants: Jørgen Jensen Distribution A/S (Ikast, Denmark) (represented by L. Sandberg-Mørch, lawyer), Specialforeningen for Logistik og Distribution (SLD) (Copenhagen, Denmark) (represented by L. Sandberg-Mørch, lawyer)

Interveners in support of the defendant: Kingdom of Denmark (represented by M. Søndahl Wolff, acting as Agent, and by R. Holdgaard, lawyer), Kingdom of Sweden (represented by C. Meyer-Seitz, H. Eklinder, A. Runeskjöld, M. Salborn Hodgson, H. Shev, R. Shahsavan Eriksson and O. Simonsson, acting as Agents), PostNord Logistics A/S (Køge, Denmark), PostNord Group AB (Solna, Sweden) (represented by O. Koktvedgaard, lawyer)

Re:

By their action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicants seek the annulment of Decision C(2020) 3006 final of the Commission of 12 May 2020 concerning State aid SA.52489 (2018/FC) — Denmark and SA.52658 (2018/FC) — Sweden — Alleged State aid to PostNord Logistics.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Annuls Decision C(2020) 3006 final of the Commission of 12 May 2020 concerning State aid SA.52489 (2018/FC) — Denmark and SA.52658 (2018/FC) — Sweden — Alleged State aid to PostNord Logistics to the extent that it was found, after the preliminary examination stage, that the capital injection in favour of PostNord Logistics A/S, approved by PostNord AB on 11 December 2018, did not constitute State aid;










2.


Dismisses the action as to the remainder;










3.


Orders ITD, Brancheorganisation for den danske vejgodstransport and Danske Fragtmænd A/S to bear half of their own costs, with the rest of their costs being borne by the European Commission;










4.


Orders the Commission, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Sweden, Jørgen Jensen Distribution A/S, Specialforeningen for Logistik og Distribution (SLD), PostNord Group AB and PostNord Logistics to bear their own costs.






(1)  
            OJ C 390, 16.11.2020.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/513/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)