# C_2014261EN.01000302.xml

| 11.8.2014 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 261/3 |
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11.8.2014

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 261/3

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Order of the Court of 4 April 2014 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Schleswig-Holsteinisches Oberlandesgericht (Germany)) — Flughafen Lübeck GmbH v Air Berlin plc & Co. Luftverkehrs KG

(Case C-27/13) (1)

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((Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure - State aid - Articles 107 TFEU and 108 TFEU - Advantages granted by a public undertaking operating an airport to a low-cost airline - Decision to open the formal investigation procedure - Obligation of the courts of the Member States to follow the Commission’s assessment in that decision as regards the existence of aid))

2014/C 261/04

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Referring court

Schleswig-Holstein Oberlandesgericht

Parties to the main proceedings

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Flughafen Lübeck GmbH

Applicant:

Defendant: Air Berlin plc & Co. Luftverkehrs KG

Defendant:

Operative part of the order

Operative part of the order

| 1. | Where, by application of Article 108(3) TFEU, the European Commission has opened the formal investigation procedure provided for in Article 108(2) TFEU with regard to a non-notified measure currently being implemented, a national court, hearing an application for the cessation of the implementation of that measure and the recovery of the sums already paid, is required to adopt all the measures necessary to draw the appropriate conclusions from any breach of the obligation to suspend the implementation of that measure.
  To that end, the national court may decide either to suspend the implementation of the measure at issue and order the recovery of the sums already paid or to order interim measures in order to safeguard, firstly, the interests of the parties concerned and, secondly, the effectiveness of the Commission’s decision to open the formal investigation procedure. |
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1.

Where, by application of Article 108(3) TFEU, the European Commission has opened the formal investigation procedure provided for in Article 108(2) TFEU with regard to a non-notified measure currently being implemented, a national court, hearing an application for the cessation of the implementation of that measure and the recovery of the sums already paid, is required to adopt all the measures necessary to draw the appropriate conclusions from any breach of the obligation to suspend the implementation of that measure.

To that end, the national court may decide either to suspend the implementation of the measure at issue and order the recovery of the sums already paid or to order interim measures in order to safeguard, firstly, the interests of the parties concerned and, secondly, the effectiveness of the Commission’s decision to open the formal investigation procedure.

| 2. | A national court cannot, in a situation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, stay the proceedings until the closure of the formal investigation procedure. |
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2.

A national court cannot, in a situation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, stay the proceedings until the closure of the formal investigation procedure.

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(1)  OJ C 171, 15.6.2013.

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