BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's top court on Wednesday told a lower tribunal to re-examine EU regulators' ruling against a Spanish ship finance scheme.
The European Commission in 2013 blocked the scheme, saying that it gave a selective advantage to companies in breach of the bloc's state aid rules. Spain and two companies subsequently challenged the ruling.
The Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe's second-highest, upheld the appeal in December 2015, prompting an appeal by the EU competition enforcer.
Judges at the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) set aside the lower tribunal's ruling.
"The case is thus referred back to the General Court," the ECJ said, citing errors in the tribunal's application of state aid rules, and the court's erroneous assumption that only investors benefited from the scheme.