Tax exemption granted to a religious community: The Court of Justice of the European Union considers that a tax exemption granted to a religious community may constitute State aid if it concerns an economic activity (Congregación de Escuelas Pías Provincia Betania c. Ayuntamiento de Getafe)

*This article is an automatic translation of the original article, provided here for your convenience. Read the original article. Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Juzgado de lo Contencioso-Administrativo No 4 de Madrid, Spain, was made to the Court of Justice of the European Communities by judgment of that court in a Grand Chamber on the question whether the tax exemptions granted by Spain to the Catholic Church for activities which do not have a strictly religious purpose may constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU. The Court's judgment does not provide a new legal solution but has the merit of clarifying the issue of State aid applied to religious institutions. Background Under an agreement concluded in 1979 prior to Spain's accession to the