Judgment of the Court of Justice in Joined Cases C-776/23 P, C-777/23 P, C-778/23 P, C-779/23 P, C-780/23 P

PRESS RELEASE No 79/25 Luxembourg, 26 June 2025 Judgment of the Court in Joined Cases C-776/23 P | Commission v Spain, C-777/23 P | Commission v Banco Santander and Others, C-778/23 P | Commission v Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona, C-779/23 P | Commission v Telefónica and Iberdrola and C-780/23 P | Commission v Ferrovial and Others (Indirect shareholdings) The Court of Justice confirms annulment of the Commission decision declaring unlawful the Spanish tax scheme on the deduction for indirect acquisitions of shareholdings in foreign companies In 2002, a new corporate tax scheme came into force in Spain. The scheme allowed companies that had acquired shareholdings in a foreign company to deduct from their tax base, by way of amortisation, the goodwill resulting from that acquisition. In response to questions from Members of the European Parliament, the European Commission stated, at the beginning of 2006, that the scheme did not fall within the scope of the EU State aid rules. Nevertheless, in 2007, the Commission decided to examine the tax scheme in question more closely. By decision of 28 October 2009, on acquisitions of shareholdings inside the European Union, and by decision of 12 January 2011, on acquisitions of shareholdings in companies established outside the European Union (‘initial decisions’), it declared that the measures in question constituted State aid which was incompatible with the internal market. It therefore ordered the...