EU Court dismisses Dutch appeal in State Aid Case

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has dismissed an appeal by the Netherlands in a state aid case. EGBA welcomes the ruling, which upholds the EU General Court’s 2023 decision that the European Commission had failed to properly whether the Netherlands granted unlawful state aid to incumbent betting and lottery operators in 2014 by extending their monopoly licenses without an open tender process.

The Court confirmed that when investigating state aid complaints, the Commission must examine all relevant aspects of a measure and cannot make shortcuts in its analysis. The Court was not asked, and has not determined, whether unlawful state aid actually occurred, but rather its ruling focused on the Commission’s failure to properly investigate whether the license extension procedure constituted state aid. “We welcome the Court’s ruling. This is a clear victory for the proper enforcement of EU law. The Court has confirmed what we said all along: the Commission must investigate state aid complaints thoroughly and cannot take shortcuts. While this case dates back to 2014, it remains relevant today. It demonstrates that the Commission must fulfil its responsibilities as guardian of the Treaties – and that there are consequences when its fails to do so”, said Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA. “When issuing any type of gambling license, Member States must always ensure there is a fair, open and competitive process that treats all interested applicants equally, in line with EU law. The Commission is expected to now open a state aid investigation to determine whether the extension of monopoly licenses by the Dutch authorities in 2014 involved unlawful state aid”.