The CFI’s ruling in the WestLB case of 6 March 2003 (Joined Cased T-228/99 and T-233/99) confirms the Commission’s analysis that capital injections by the State in favour of public undertakings must be remunerated at market rates, regardless of whether the recipient is facing financial difficulties or not. Although the Court annulled the Commission’s decision on the basis of inadequate reasoning, in particular in respect of the figures put forward by the Commission, it paves the way for the Commission to adopt a new decision in the WestLB case and six further decisions with respect to other German Landesbanken.
In 1991 the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia transferred to WestLB the Wohnungsbauförderungsanstalt (WFA), a public-law body which is responsible for the granting of financial aid for the construction of housing. The terms of the transfer provided that the Land was to receive a cash remuneration at an annual rate of 0.6% after tax in respect of the capital contributed.
