THE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD IN CRISIS MODE 73 The decisions overcame this problem by concluding that the expected losses of the airline in the eligible period (March 2020 to March 2021, taking into account the loss of revenue caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, any additional and avoided costs, and the loss of profit), only a projection at the time, would very likely be lower than the nominal value of the loans backed by the state guarantee, and in this way, the aid would be proportionate to the losses. In any case, an ex-post mechanism to prevent overcompensation was agreed by the Member States as part of the decision. It should be noted that later, in August 2020, in addition to the guarantees approved based on Article 107(2)(b) and received in the early stages of the crisis, was complemented by recapitalisation aid161 authorised by the Commission under Article 107(3)(b) and Section 3.11 of the Temporary Framework. This was necessary as the guarantee on the revolving credit facility was only a temporary solution to SAS’s liquidity issues, but it also needed capital with the deepening of the crisis162. 6.5. The First Judgments Related to COVID-19 Measures Compatible with the Internal Market When designing national aid schemes and grant aid, Member States obviously distort market conditions, and the interventions do have negative impacts on undertakings, which did not receive or cannot receive aid. The distortion is clear in our case as Member States did pour billions of euros to keep for examples airlines afloat during COVID-19 times, even though the market shrank significantly due to both curfew measures and the limited willingness of people to travel. As these measures targeted either individual companies or airlines having permits in the given Member States, Ryanair was not able from benefit from them, even though it had activities in almost all EU Member States. This was the primary reason for Ryanair to submit a series of actions at the General Court against positive decisions of the Commission finding State aid compatible with the internal market. The first two judgments related to a French and a Swedish aid scheme were issued on 17 February 2021. The judgments were adopted in an expedited procedure only ten months after the measures had been approved by the Commission. The French measure aimed at reducing airline taxes and was found 161 Commission decision C(2020) 5750 final of 17 August 2020 (SA.57543 (2020/N) – Denmark - SA.58342 (2020/N) – Sweden COVID-19: Recapitalisation of SAS AB. 162 See paragraphs 9-10 of the recapitalisation decision.
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