CELEX: 62017TA0673
Language: en
Date: 2019-09-20 00:00:00
Title: Case T-673/17: Judgment of the General Court of 20 September 2019 — Port autonome du Centre et de l’Ouest and Others v Commission (State aid — Corporate tax exemption scheme implemented by Belgium in favour of its ports — Decision declaring the aid scheme incompatible with the internal market — Concept of economic activity — Services of general economic interest — Non-economic activities — Severability — Selectivity — Article 93 TFEU and Article 106(2) TFEU)

2.12.2019   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 406/24
            
         
      Judgment of the General Court of 20 September 2019 — Port autonome du Centre et de l’Ouest and Others v Commission
      (Case T-673/17) (1)
      
      (State aid - Corporate tax exemption scheme implemented by Belgium in favour of its ports - Decision declaring the aid scheme incompatible with the internal market - Concept of economic activity - Services of general economic interest - Non-economic activities - Severability - Selectivity - Article 93 TFEU and Article 106(2) TFEU)
      (2019/C 406/32)
      Language of the case: French
      
         Parties
      
      
         Applicants: Port autonome du Centre et de l’Ouest SCRL (La Louvière, Belgium), Port autonome de Namur (Namur, Belgium), Port autonome de Charleroi, (Charleroi, Belgium), Port autonome de Liège (Liège, Belgium), Région wallonne (Belgium) (represented by: J. Vanden Eynde and E. Wauters, lawyers)
      
         Defendant: European Commission (represented by: B. Stromsky and S. Noë, acting as Agents)
      
         Intervener in support of the applicants: Kingdom of Belgium (represented by: J.-C. Halleux, P. Cottin, L. Van den Broeck and C. Pochet, acting as Agents, and by A. Lepièce and H. Baeyens, lawyers)
      
         Re:
      
      Application under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of Commission Decision (EU) 2017/2115 of 27 July 2017 on aid scheme SA.38393 (2016/C, ex 2015/E) implemented by Belgium — Taxation of ports in Belgium (OJ 2017 L 332, p.1).
      
         Operative part of the judgment
      
      The Court:
      
                  1.
               
               
                  
                     Dismisses the action;
                  
               
            
                  2.
               
               
                  
                     Orders Port autonome du Centre et de l’Ouest SCRL, Port autonome de Namur, Port autonome de Charleroi, Port autonome de Liège and Région wallonne to pay, in addition to their own costs, the costs incurred by the European Commission;
                  
               
            
                  3.
               
               
                  
                     Orders the Kingdom of Belgium to bear its own costs.
                  
               
            
         (1)  OJ C 382, 13.11.2017.