# C_2008079EN.01000302.xml

| 29.3.2008 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 79/3 |
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29.3.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 79/3

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Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 12 February 2008 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d'État (France)) — Centre d'exportation du livre français (CELF), Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication v Société internationale de diffusion et d'édition

(Case C-199/06) (1)

1

(State aid - Article 88(3) EC - National courts - Recovery of unlawfully implemented aid - Aid declared compatible with the common market)

(2008/C 79/04)

Language of the case: French

Referring court

Conseil d'État

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: Centre d'exportation du livre français (CELF), Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication

Applicants:

Defendant: Société internationale de diffusion et d'édition

Defendant:

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Conseil d'Etat (France) — Interpretation of Article 88 EC — Whether it is permissible for a Member State not to recover unlawfully granted aid which the European Commission, after receiving a complaint from a third party, has declared compatible with the common market

Operative part of the judgment

| 1. | The last sentence of Article 88(3) EC is to be interpreted as meaning that the national court is not bound to order the recovery of aid implemented contrary to that provision, where the Commission has adopted a final decision declaring that aid to be compatible with the common market, within the meaning of Article 87 EC. Applying Community law, the national court must order the aid recipient to pay interest in respect of the period of unlawfulness. Within the framework of its domestic law, it may, if appropriate, also order the recovery of the unlawful aid, without prejudice to the Member State's right to re-implement it, subsequently. It may also be required to uphold claims for compensation for damage caused by reason of the unlawful nature of the aid. |
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1.

The last sentence of Article 88(3) EC is to be interpreted as meaning that the national court is not bound to order the recovery of aid implemented contrary to that provision, where the Commission has adopted a final decision declaring that aid to be compatible with the common market, within the meaning of Article 87 EC. Applying Community law, the national court must order the aid recipient to pay interest in respect of the period of unlawfulness. Within the framework of its domestic law, it may, if appropriate, also order the recovery of the unlawful aid, without prejudice to the Member State's right to re-implement it, subsequently. It may also be required to uphold claims for compensation for damage caused by reason of the unlawful nature of the aid.

| 2. | In a procedural situation such as that in the main proceedings, the obligation, arising from the last sentence of Article 88(3) EC, to remedy the consequences of the aid's unlawfulness extends also, for the purposes of calculating the sums to be paid by the recipient, and save for exceptional circumstances, to the period between a decision of the Commission of the European Communities declaring the aid to be compatible with the common market and the annulment of that decision by the Community court. |
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2.

In a procedural situation such as that in the main proceedings, the obligation, arising from the last sentence of Article 88(3) EC, to remedy the consequences of the aid's unlawfulness extends also, for the purposes of calculating the sums to be paid by the recipient, and save for exceptional circumstances, to the period between a decision of the Commission of the European Communities declaring the aid to be compatible with the common market and the annulment of that decision by the Community court.

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(1)  OJ C 154, 1.7.2006.

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