25 March 2022 – In the present case, the Court had to examine whether the appellant was entitled to a concession for a contract distillery (Lohnbrennerei) as well as to the acquisition of a distillation apparatus. It was in particular disputed whether there was sufficient economic need for granting such a concession. In order to assess an economic need, the number of customers, the quantity of spirits produced, their quality, special customer needs and other contract distilleries already existing in the region have to be considered according to the Court. The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) and the appellant contradicted each other with regards to the number of existing distilleries in the relevant region. However, the Court held that there was no reason to doubt the information provided by the FOCBS. Moreover, it concluded that no sufficiently large customer need could be identified in the case at hand and hence no economic need for granting the requested concession to the appellant existed.

As a consequence, the Court rejected the appeal.

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