Case T-160/16: Judgment of the General Court of 31 May 2018 — Groningen Seaports and Others v Commission (State aid — Corporate tax exemption granted by the Netherlands to six Dutch public seaports — Decision declaring the aid scheme incompatible with the internal market — Obligation to state reasons — Equal treatment)
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Judgment of the General Court of 31 May 2018 — Groningen Seaports and Others v Commission
(Case T-160/16) ( 1 )
‛(State aid — Corporate tax exemption granted by the Netherlands to six Dutch public seaports — Decision declaring the aid scheme incompatible with the internal market — Obligation to state reasons — Equal treatment)’2018/C 249/26Language of the case: Dutch
Parties
Applicants: Groningen Seaports NV (Delfzijl, Netherlands) and the 5 other applicants whose names appear in the annex to the judgment (represented initially by E. Pijnacker Hordijk and I. Kieft, and subsequently by A. Kleinhout and C. Zois, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: initially by S. Noë, B. Stromsky and J.-F. Brakeland, and subsequently by S. Noë and B. Stromsky, acting as Agents)
Intervener in support of the applicants: Kingdom of the Netherlands (represented by: J. Langer and M. Bulterman, acting as Agents)
Re:
APPLICATION under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of Commission Decision (EU) 2016/634 of 21 January 2016 on aid measure SA.25338 (2014/C) (ex E 3/2008 and ex CP 115/2004) implemented by the Netherlands — Corporate tax exemption for public undertakings (OJ 2016 L 113, p. 148).
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
1.
Grants Havenbedrijf Moerdijk NV leave to replace Havenschap Moerdijk as applicant;
2.
Dismisses the action;
3.
Orders Groningen Seaports NV and the other applicants whose names appear in the annex to bear their own costs and to pay the costs incurred by the European Commission;
4.
Orders the Kingdom of the Netherlands to bear its own costs.
( 1 ) OJ C 200, 6.6.2016.
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