Judgment of the Court of First Instance (Fifth Chamber, extended composition) of 9 September 2009.#Territorio Histórico de Álava - Diputación Foral de Álava and Comunidad autónoma del País Vasco - Gobierno Vasco and Others v Commission of the European Communities.#State aid - Tax advantages granted by a territorial entity within a Member State - Reduction of the tax base for corporation tax - Decisions declaring aid schemes incompatible with the common market and requiring recovery of aid paid out - Trade association - Admissibility - Withdrawal of a plea in law - Classification as new aid or as existing aid - Principle of the protection of legitimate expectations - Principle of legal certainty - Principle of proportionality.#Cases T-230/01 to T-232/01 and T-267/01 to T-269/01.

Subject of the case

Re:

APPLICATION in Cases T‑230/01 and T‑267/01 for annulment of Commission Decision 2002/892/EC of 11 July 2001 on the State aid scheme applied by Spain to certain newly established firms in Álava (OJ 2002 L 314, p. 1); application in Cases T‑231/01 and T‑268/01 for annulment of Commission Decision 2002/806/EC of 11 July 2001 on the State aid scheme applied by Spain to certain newly established firms in Vizcaya (OJ 2002 L 279, p. 35), and application in Cases T‑232/01 and T‑269/01 for annulment of Commission Decision 2002/540/EC of 11 July 2001 on the State aid scheme applied by Spain to certain newly established firms in Guipúzcoa (OJ 2002 L 174, p. 31).

Operative part

Operative part

The Court:

1. Joins Cases T‑230/01 to T‑231/01, T‑232/01, T‑267/01, T‑268/01 and T‑269/01 for the purposes of judgment;

2. Dismisses the actions;

3. In Cases T‑230/01 to T‑232/01:

– orders the Territorio Histórico de Álava – Diputación Foral de Álava, the Territorio Histórico de Vizcaya – Diputación Foral de Vizcaya, the Territorio Histórico de Guipúzcoa – Diputación Foral de Guipúzcoa and the Comunidad autónoma del País Vasco − Gobierno Vasco to each bear their own costs and to pay the costs of the Commission and the Comunidad autónoma de La Rioja;

– orders the Confederación Empresarial Vasca (Confebask), the Cámara Oficial de Comercio e Industria de Álava, the Cámara Oficial de Comercio, Industria y Navegación de Vizcaya and the Cámara Oficial de Comercio, Industria y Navegación de Guipúzcoa to each bear their own costs;

4. In Cases T‑267/01 to T‑269/01 orders Confebask to bear its own costs and to pay the costs of the Commission and the Comunidad autónoma de La Rioja.