General Court (Ninth Chamber, sitting with five Judges) 25 March 2026, T-313/21 (SAS Cargo Group A/S and Others v European Commission.)

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In an action for non-contractual liability under Articles 268 and 340 TFEU, the General Court held that the Commission committed a sufficiently serious breach of Article 266(1) TFEU by repaying only the interest yielded on provisionally paid fines—rather than interest at a standard rate calculated by analogy with Article 86(2)(b) of Regulation No 2342/2002 and Article 83(2)(b) of Delegated Regulation No 1268/2012 (ECB refinancing rate plus 3.5 percentage points)—following annulment of the underlying cartel decision. The five-year limitation period under Article 46 of the Statute of the Court of Justice was interrupted by the applicants' prior application of 4 February 2021, and the action brought within two months and ten days of the Commission's refusal of 25 March 2021 was timely, the ten-day distance extension under Article 60 of the Rules of Procedure applying to the two-month period referenced in Article 46. The Commission was ordered to pay compensation of EUR 14 438 793.21, plus default interest at 3.5% from 5 February 2021 until full payment, while the alternative claim for annulment of the refusal letter was dismissed as inadmissible for lack of a distinct legal interest.AI