CJEU – Recent Developments in Direct Taxation 2022

S. 183The Autostrada Wielkopolska Case (T-778/17 and C-933/19)

Emilia Sroka/Błażej Kuźniacki

1. Introduction

On 11 November 2021, the Court of Justice of European Union (CJEU) issued the judgement in case C-933/19 P Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. v. the European Commission and Poland. The Court examined the appeal of the aid beneficiary and dismissed it, not least by confirming that the compensation paid by Poland to Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. constituted illegal State aid which should be recovered.

As a preliminary remark, it should be noted that the CJEU dealt with State aid granted in the form of overcompensation based on civil law rules. The case is, therefore, not explicitly concerned with direct tax issues. The choice of this ruling is related to the fact that in 2021 no cases at the CJEU level were decided in respect of the Polish direct tax law.

Nevertheless, it should be emphasised that, according to the settled case law of the CJEU, any tax measures adopted by Member States must comply with the EU State aid rules. This principle also applies to direct taxes which are not (fully) harmonised at the EU level. Hence, some parts of the reasoning in the discussed judgement may S. 184be of relev...