The Commission decision of 17 July 2013, on the Spanish Tax Lease, was annulled by the General Court because it was not convinced that the Commission had established that the tax measures used conferred aid to the intermediaries, or that the Commission had provided adequate reasoning in this respect. The judgment of the General Court does not result however in a clearance of the measures that were under investigation. It should also be underlined that on 29 February 2016 the Commission appealed the General Court's judgment before the Court of Justice.

In the Spanish Tax Lease case, the Commission found that aid was granted to the intermediaries (Economic Interest Groupings and their members) which financed the acquisition of ships through leasing. Neither the shipyards nor the shipowners were identified as the beneficiaries of aid. The Commission investigation did not prevent shipowners from buying ships from shipyards in Spain on market terms or from financing them through tax lease arrangements in Spain, provided unlawful state aid was not granted to the parties involved.

The new measure that was implemented in 2013 — and mentioned by the Honourable Member — was notified by Spain, authorised by the Commission, and available to all interested companies.