Success at the General Court of the European Union

In its judgment of April 14, 2021 (Case T-69/18), the ECJ ruled in favor of our client in a long-running legal dispute. Our client, AWO Bezirksverband Hannover e.V., was involved in the proceedings as an intervener of the Commission.

The legal dispute before the ECJ was based on two state aid complaints filed by the Association of German Senior Citizens’ and Disabled Persons’ Assistance, Landesverband Niedersachsen/Bremen e.V. and CarePool Hannover GmbH, the later plaintiffs. The complaints were directed, among other things, against financial contributions made by the State of Lower Saxony to the central associations of the non-statutory welfare organizations since 1956. The Commission rejected the complaints, stating that the grants at best constituted existing aid. The plaintiffs challenged this with an action for annulment before the European Court of Justice. The ECJ has now dismissed the action and the three pleas in law put forward, thus upholding the Commission’s case.

Further information can be found on the website of the European Courts.