The Preliminary Ruling of the Court of Justice on Preferential Taxation of Cooperatives and State Aid Rules journal article Flavia Tomat European State Aid Law Quarterly, Volume 11 (2012), Issue 2, Page 462 - 476 I. Introduction On 8 September 2011 the Court of Justice (“the Court”) handed down its judgment in the joined cases concerning the Italian tax regime providing exemptions for producers’ and workers’ cooperative societies.1 Upon a request for preliminary ruling from the Corte Suprema di Cassazione – before which appeals concerning the application of tax exemptions granted to producers’ and workers’ cooperative societies are still pending – the Court wa