Case T-266/16, T-324/16, T-351/16, T-363/16, T-371/16 and T-388/16: Judgment of the General Court of 20 September 2023 — Capsugel Belgium and Others v Commission (State aid — Aid scheme put into effect by Belgium — Decision declaring the aid scheme incompatible with the internal market and unlawful and ordering recovery of the aid granted — Tax ruling — Taxable profit — Excess profit exemption — Advantage — Selectivity — Recovery)
Date: 2023-09-20
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: Belgium, State aid, control of State aid, corporation tax, profit, reimbursement of aid, tax exemption








C_202300648EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2023/648


13.11.2023





Judgment of the General Court of 20 September 2023 — Capsugel Belgium and Others v Commission
(Case T-266/16, T-324/16, T-351/16, T-363/16, T-371/16 and T-388/16) (1)

(State aid - Aid scheme put into effect by Belgium - Decision declaring the aid scheme incompatible with the internal market and unlawful and ordering recovery of the aid granted - Tax ruling - Taxable profit - Excess profit exemption - Advantage - Selectivity - Recovery)
(C/2023/648)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicant in Case T-266/16: Capsugel Belgium (Bornem, Belgium)

Applicant in Case T-324/16: VF Europe BVBA (Bornem)

Applicant in Case T-351/16: Belgacom International Carrier Services (Brussels, Belgium)

Applicant in Case T-363/16: Zoetis Belgium (Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium)

Applicant in Case T-371/16: Ineos Aromatics Ltd, formerly BP Aromatics Ltd (Geel, Belgium)

Applicant in Case T-388/16: Eval Europe NV (Zwijndrecht, Belgium)
(represented by: C. Borgers, B. Buytaert and H. Vanhulle, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: P.-J. Loewenthal, B. Stromsky and F. Tomat, acting as Agents)

Re:

By their actions under Article 263 TFEU, the applicants seek the annulment of Commission Decision (EU) 2016/1699 of 11 January 2016 on the excess profit exemption State aid scheme SA.37667 (2015/C) (ex 2015/NN) implemented by Belgium (OJ 2016 L 260, p. 61).

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Orders that Cases T-266/16, T-324/16, T-351/16, T-363/16, T-371/16 and T-388/16 be joined for the purposes of the present judgment;










2.


Dismisses the actions;










3.


Orders Capsugel Belgium to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission in Case T-266/16;










4.


Orders VF Europe BVBA to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Commission in Case T-324/16;










5.


Orders Belgacom International Carrier Services to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Commission in Case T-351/16;










6.


Orders Zoetis Belgium to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Commission in Case T-363/16;










7.


Orders Ineos Aromatics Ltd to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Commission in Case T-371/16;










8.


Orders Eval Europe NV to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Commission in Case T-388/16.






(1)  
            OJ C 279, 1.8.2016.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/648/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)