State Aid

General Court dismisses Ryanair's action for annulment of decisions rejecting access to documents

On 10 December 2010, the General Court rejected a series of claims for annulment brought by Ryanair against implied decisions of the Commission refusing access to documents relating to State aids allegedly granted to Ryanair by several airports.

Ryanair sought mainly access to the complaints and comments submitted by its competitors and by a number of Member States. These documents were part of an ongoing formal investigation procedure initiated by the Commission. The Commission denied Ryanair access to such documents primarily on the basis of the third indent of Article 4(2) of Regulation No. 1049/2001, alleging that the disclosure of such document could undermine the purpose of its investigation.

The Court upheld the Commission's decision. It confirmed the European Court of Justice's finding in Commission v. Technische Glaswerke Ilmenau that (1) interested parties other than the Member State concerned in the procedures for reviewing State aid do not have the right to consult the documents in the Commission's file and that (2) there is a general presumption that disclosure of documents in the administrative file undermines the protection of the objectives of the investigation activities. The Court held further that this presumption did not entail any breach of Ryanair's rights of defense since, according to long-standing case-law, a State aid investigation is not directed against the recipient of the aid but against the Member State that granted it. Finally, the Court dismissed Ryanair's actions on the ground that it failed (1) to demonstrate that there was an overriding public interest capable of rebutting that presumption and/or (2) to adduce evidence to the effect that some...