The European Union court has accepted the appeal presented by the low-cost airline Ryanair against the 3.4 billion euros given by the Dutch government to the Dutch airline KLM. Amsterdam wanted to save society during the pandemic. The aid was approved in 2020 by the European Commission. Now, however, the judges in Brussels have annulled the approval, ruling that it was a move that undermined competition.

Today's court ruling established that the European Commission made an error in defining the beneficiaries of the State aid granted, excluding from these benefits the holding company Air France-KLM and the airline Air France, two companies belonging to the same group. In short, the funds made available by Amsterdam also benefited the other companies, as contested by Ryanair.

The Dutch State had offered a State loan and a guarantee on another bank loan in favor of KLM. However, in 2021 the European Union court annulled this decision due to "lack of motivation" regarding the beneficiary, but suspended the effects of the annulment pending a new decision from the Commission. Today the judges reiterated that the European Commission did not monitor State aid well.