Incompatibility of the tax exoneration: The General Court confirms the incompatibility of the excise tax exoneration regime for the diesel oil used by the Italian farmers in order to heat greenhouses (Italy)

*This article is an automatic translation of the original article, provided here for your convenience. Read the original article. On 13 September 2012, the Court of First Instance of the European Union was due to rule in a State aid case (T-379/09) between the Italian Republic and the European Commission concerning the system of exemption from excise duty on diesel used by the Italian public authorities for the sole benefit of greenhouse growers, that is to say, producers of crops grown under glass, as opposed to crops grown in the open air. It is common knowledge that greenhouse growers use a lot of diesel to heat their greenhouses, around 2 litres per cubic metre.... In times of sharply rising oil prices, the diesel bill can be particularly heavy for these farmers. On two occasions -