Position of Achema AB on the decision of the Court of First Instance of the EU
On the 12th of September 2019 the Court of First Instance of the European Union made a decision to uphold the European Commission’s judgement of 20/11/2013 to grant 448 million EUR of State aid to KN (AB Klaipėdos nafta) for the construction and operation of the LNG terminal, although in the same judgement the European Commission found that the State aid granted by Lithuania from 2011 to 20/11/2013 was unlawful, however, approved the granting of State aid.
In the opinion of UAB koncernas ACHEMOS GRUPĖ and Achema AB, today the General Court issued a judgement with little legal argument, which is essentially a political one. Such a decision could lead to a flawed practice of State aid approval across the European Union as it establishes that EU Member States may not provide all relevant information to the European Commission for the purpose of getting State aid approved which significantly restricts competition in the sector concerned, while it does not have to verify it and be active in collecting the information which would result in an unreasonable and anticompetitive decision.
The judgement of the General Court of the European Union has not entered into force and is not final. This judgement can be contested by appealing to the Court of Justice of the European Union within two months from its date of issue.