# Arrêt du Tribunal

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: State aid – Unnotified aid – Acceptance by the Commission of the notification of a new agreement between recipient and grantor – No effect on the unlawfulness of the aid

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: Procedure – Force of res judicata attaching to a judgment – Scope – Inadmissibility of a second action – Conditions – Same parties, subject-matter and grounds in both actions

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: State aid – Definition – Purchases from an undertaking – Assessment on the basis of the private investor test – State aid excluded only in the case of a normal commercial transaction

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: Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope

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: State aid – Commission decision finding aid which has not been notified incompatible with the common market – Obligation to state reasons – Scope

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: EC Treaty – Systems of property ownership – Principle of neutrality – Limits – Bound by the fundamental rules of the Treaty – No effect on the scope of the concept of State aid

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: State aid – Prohibited – Derogations – Aid which may be considered compatible with the common market – Aid having a social character – Conditions

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: State aid – Recovery of unlawful aid – Aid granted in breach of the procedural rules in Article 88 EC – Possibility of legitimate expectation on the part of recipients only – Protection – Conditions and limits

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: Community law – Principles – Need for judicial review – Recovery of unlawful aid notwithstanding the requirements of legal certainty

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: State aid – Review by the Commission – Initiation of formal review procedure – Maximum period of two months – Inapplicable in the case of unnotified aid

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: State aid – Proposed aid – Implementation before the final decision of the Commission – Commission decision ordering repayment of the aid – Obligation to state reasons – Scope

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«(State aid – Actions for annulment – Decision terminating a review procedure initiated under Article 88(2) EC – Concept of State aid – Purchase of services by the State at the market price – Aid having a social character granted without discrimination related to the origin of the products concerned – Failure to order a Member State to produce the necessary information – Obligation to repay aid – Legitimate expectations of recipients – Statement of reasons)»

| | Judgment of the Court of First Instance (First Chamber, Extended Composition), 5 August 2003 |
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Summary of the Judgment

1..
  State aid – Unnotified aid – Acceptance by the Commission of the notification of a new agreement between recipient and grantor – No effect on the unlawfulness of the aid (Art. 88(3) EC)

2..
  Procedure – Force of res judicata attaching to a judgment – Scope – Inadmissibility of a second action – Conditions – Same parties, subject-matter and grounds in both actions

3..
  State aid – Definition – Purchases from an undertaking – Assessment on the basis of the private investor test – State aid excluded only in the case of a normal commercial transaction (Art. 87 EC)

4..
  Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope (Art. 253 EC)

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  State aid – Commission decision finding aid which has not been notified incompatible with the common market – Obligation to state reasons – Scope (Art. 88(3) EC)

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  EC Treaty – Systems of property ownership – Principle of neutrality – Limits – Bound by the fundamental rules of the Treaty – No effect on the scope of the concept of State aid (Arts 87(1) EC and 295 EC)

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  State aid – Prohibited – Derogations – Aid which may be considered compatible with the common market – Aid having a social character – Conditions (Art. 87(2)(a) EC)

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  State aid – Recovery of unlawful aid – Aid granted in breach of the procedural rules in Article 88 EC – Possibility of legitimate expectation on the part of recipients only – Protection – Conditions and limits (Arts 87 EC and 88 EC)

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  Community law – Principles – Need for judicial review – Recovery of unlawful aid notwithstanding the requirements of legal certainty (Arts 88 EC, 220 EC, 230, first para., EC and 233 EC; Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union, Art. 47; European
  Convention on Human Rights, Arts 6 and 13)

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  State aid – Review by the Commission – Initiation of formal review procedure – Maximum period of two months – Inapplicable in the case of unnotified aid (Art. 88(2) and (3) EC; Council Regulation No 659/1999, Art. 4(6))

11..
  State aid – Proposed aid – Implementation before the final decision of the Commission – Commission decision ordering repayment of the aid – Obligation to state reasons – Scope (Art. 88(3) EC)

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (First Chamber, Extended Composition)5 August 2003 (1)

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (First Chamber, Extended Composition)5 August 2003 (1)

((State aid – Actions for annulment – Decision terminating a review procedure initiated under Article 88(2) EC – Concept of State aid – Purchase of services by the State at the market price – Aid having a social character granted without discrimination related to the origin of the products concerned – Failure to order a Member State to produce the necessary information – Obligation to refund aid – Legitimate expectations of recipients – Statement of reasons))

applicant in Case T-116/01 and intervener in Case T-118/01 in support of the Diputación Foral de Vizcaya,

applicant in Case T-118/01 and intervener in Case T-116/01 in support of P&O European Ferries (Vizcaya) SA,

v

defendant,

gives the following

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On those grounds,

Vesterdorf

Lenaerts

Azizi

Jaeger

Legal

H. Jung

B. Vesterdorf

Registrar

President

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  Languages of the case: Spanishand English.

1 –
: Languages of the case: Spanishand English.