CJEU – Recent Developments in Direct Taxation 2022

1. Introduction

On 27 April 2022, the General Court of the EU (“GCEU”) delivered its judgement in Mrs. Flašker v. European Commission (T-392/20). The judgement is the outcome of an application under Art. 263 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”) by a private pharmacist Mrs. Flašker for annulment of the European Commission (“EC”) Decision of 24 March 2020 (the contested decision), which failed to initiate the formal investigation procedure, laid down in Art. 107 and Art. 108 (2) TFEU in respect of possible State aid granted by Slovenia to a municipal network of dispensing pharmacies. Mrs. Flašker sought in front of the court for the annulment of the contested decision of the EC, which she and her fellow professionals understood as incomprehensive. The EC stopped the examination already in the preliminary phase, without initiating the formal investigation procedure under Art. 108 (2) TFEU. The risk of serious difficulties regarding non-functioning of the internal market was, therefore, still present.

2. Social and legal background

The dispute is about an entity called Javni zavod Lekarna Ljubljana (“Lekarna Ljubljana”), which was established in the capital city of Slo...