The EU General Court in Luxembourg has issued a judgment supporting the European Commission's approval for an aid scheme for Austria's flag carrier Austrian Airlines. The judgement rejected the complaint by low-cost airline Niki in connection with the acquisition of Austrian Airlines by Lufthansa over the Austrian state's sale of its 41.56 per cent stake in Austrian airlines to Lufthansa in 2008 where the latter paid a 'negative price.' The Commission had found in 2009 that this did amount to state aid because bankruptcy would have been a cheaper option but that such aid was in line with that allowed to be given for the rescue of firms in difficult circumstances.

Admissibility

The General Court issued two judgments, both of which emphasised the admissibility of the sale: the two highly complex proceedings concerned, on the one hand, the question of whether the negative purchase price paid by Lufthansa constituted prohibited state aid. The ECJ ruled that it did not. With regard to the merger control proceedings, the issue of the negative effects of such a concentration, as deemed relevant in terms of competition law, came to the fore during the course of the second proceedings. The judges in Luxembourg also said this was not of relevance.

Pleased

'We're extremely pleased that in issuing its judgments, the General Court in Luxembourg entirely shares our legal opinion and it has confirmed that our analysis was correct from the very beginning,' Hans Kristoferitsch, partner in the European Union law team at CHSH. The team at CHSH which oversaw the proceedings before the General Court included both partners who specialise in European Union law Dr  Hans Kristoferitsch and Dr Stefan Huber, antitrust law partner Dr Bernhard Kofler-Senoner and University professor Dr Peter Lewisch. Seller ÖIAG (later ÖBIB) appointed CHSH both with regard to the tender procedure and the proceedings before the General Court.