Official Journal of the European Union

EN

C series

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C/2025/2907

(Case T-217/25)

(C/2025/2907)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Applicant: LM (represented by: A. Bartosch and R. Schmidt, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

—annul Article 1 of the contested decision, (<span class="oj-super oj-note-tag">1</span>) in which it was found that the loss coverage payments granted between 2009 and 2015 do not constitute aid;

—order the defendant to pay the applicant’s costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The action is based on the following pleas in law.

1.First plea in law: the defendant misinterpreted the concept of advantage under EU state aid law, thereby making an error of law, when it considered that the fact that there was no transfer of funds from outside of Westdeutsche Spielbanken GmbH & Co. KG was sufficient to find that there was no such advantage.

2.Second plea in law: the defendant misinterpreted the so-called market economy operator principle.

—The defendant breached the ex ante principle which is mandatory when applying that principle.

—The defendant failed to examine each individual loss coverage separately as at the time it was made, in accordance with that principle.

—The defendant incorrectly implemented the alternative scenario of the sale of Westdeutsche Spielbanken GmbH & Co. KG.

—There are inconsistencies in the assessment, as carried out by the defendant in its decision, of the alternative scenarios.

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Commission Decision C(2024) 8105 final of 22 November 2024 on the State aid SA.48580 (2017/C) implemented by Germany for WestSpiel.

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ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/2907/oj

ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)

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