The French Administrative Court of Appeal of Lyon rules that trade chambers are not undertakings and rejects the claim of a claimant alleging that a tax for the expenses of these chambers amounts to unlawful State aid (Bellerivedis)

Factual Background The society seeks the annulment the administrative tribunal of Clermont-Ferrand judgment rejecting its claims for reimbursement of a tax on the expenses of the trade chambers (from 1991 to 2002). The disputed tax is instituted by a provision of the general tax code and is designed to finance the ordinary expenses of the trade chambers. Trade chamber are bodies governed by public law and are destined to represent and defend the general interests of traders and industrials. They do not