Appeal brought on 14 April 2016 by Germany against the judgment of the General Court delivered on 4 February 2016 in Case T-287/11 Heitkamp BauHolding GmbH v European Commission. The appellant raises one ground of appeal in support of its appeal.
There is an infringement of Article 107(1) TFEU. The General Court disregarded that Paragraph 8c(1a) of the Law on corporation tax (KStG), known as ‘the restructuring clause', is not selective:
— the ‘restructuring clause' is not prima facie selective, as there is no exception to the relevant reference system and because it is a general measure, which may benefit all undertakings in the territory of the Member State;
— the ‘restructuring clause' is also justified by the nature and the internal structure of the tax system. The ‘restructuring clause' is justified by, first, the principle of taxation according to ability to pay, second, combatting abuse, namely the prevention of abusive arrangements, and, third, the objective differences between a harmful acquisition of shares and an acquisition of shares for the purposes of restructuring.
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