# C_2020240EN.01000802.xml

| 20.7.2020 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 240/8 |
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20.7.2020

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 240/8

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Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 30 April 2020 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Administrativo e Fiscal de Coimbra — Portugal) — Nelson Antunes da Cunha, Lda v Instituto de Financiamento da Agricultura e Pescas IP (IFAP)

(Case C-627/18) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - State aids - Article 108 TFEU - Aid scheme incompatible with the internal market - European Commission decision ordering the recovery of unlawful aid - Regulation (EU) 2015/1589 - Article 17(1) - Limitation period of 10 years - Application to the Commission’s recovery powers - Article 16(2) and (3) - Limitation period of a lesser duration provided for by national law - Principle of effectiveness)

(2020/C 240/10)

Language of the case: Portuguese

Referring court

Tribunal Administrativo e Fiscal de Coimbra

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Nelson Antunes da Cunha, Lda

Defendant: Instituto de Financiamento da Agricultura e Pescas IP (IFAP)

Operative part of the judgment

| 1. | Article 17(1) of Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1589 of 13 July 2015 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union must be interpreted as meaning that the limitation period of 10 years laid down in that provision for the exercise of the European Commission’s powers to recover aid applies only to relations between the Commission and the Member State to which the recovery decision emanating from that institution is addressed; |
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1.

Article 17(1) of Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1589 of 13 July 2015 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union must be interpreted as meaning that the limitation period of 10 years laid down in that provision for the exercise of the European Commission’s powers to recover aid applies only to relations between the Commission and the Member State to which the recovery decision emanating from that institution is addressed;

| 2. | Article 16(2) of Regulation 2015/1589, under which the aid to be recovered is to include interest, and the principle of effectiveness laid down in Article 16(3) of that regulation, must be interpreted as precluding the application of a national limitation period for the recovery of aid where that period expired even before the adoption of the Commission’s decision declaring that aid unlawful and ordering its recovery or where that limitation period has elapsed, mainly by reason of the delay by the national authorities in implementing that decision. |
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2.

Article 16(2) of Regulation 2015/1589, under which the aid to be recovered is to include interest, and the principle of effectiveness laid down in Article 16(3) of that regulation, must be interpreted as precluding the application of a national limitation period for the recovery of aid where that period expired even before the adoption of the Commission’s decision declaring that aid unlawful and ordering its recovery or where that limitation period has elapsed, mainly by reason of the delay by the national authorities in implementing that decision.

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(1)  OJ C 455, 17.12.2018.

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