**Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 18 January 2012 – Djebel – SGPS v Commission**

**(Case T-422/07)**

State aid – Aid scheme designed to promote modern and competitive entrepreneurial strategies – Planned aid for a commercial company in the form of a soft loan in order to help finance an investment by that company in
Brazil – Decision declaring aid to be incompatible with the common market – Duty to state reasons – Impairment of competition – Effect on trade between Member States – Equal treatment

1.                     *Actions for annulment – Jurisdiction of the EU judicature – Claim seeking that directions be issued to an institution – Claim
for a declaratory judgment – Inadmissibility (Art. 230 EC) (see para. 50)*

2.                     *State aid – Commission decision finding aid to be incompatible with the common market – Duty to state reasons – Scope – Decision
in line with previous decisions – Summary reasoning – Decision going well beyond previous decisions – Express reasoning (Arts
87(1) EC and 253 EC) (see paras 52-54, 57-58, 70)*

3.                     *State aid – Effect on trade between Member States – Adverse effect on competition – Criteria for assessment – Small size and
limited extent of aid not* a priori *excluding the possibility of trade being affected (Art. 87(1) EC) (see paras 81-85, 88-90, 97, 100)*

4.                     *State aid – Prohibition – Exceptions – Discretion of the Commission – Judicial review (Art. 87(3) EC) (see paras 107-108)*

5.                     *State aid – Prohibition – Exceptions – Aid eligible for the derogation laid down in Article 87(3)(c) EC – Aid not needed or
having an incentive effect – Exclusion (Art. 87(3)(c) EC) (see paras 118-124)*

6.                     *State aid – General aid scheme approved by the Commission – Approval subject to a reservation requiring individual notification
of certain aids – Examination of such a notified aid having regard only to the rules of the Treaty (see paras 144, 147-149)*

7.                     *State aid – Concept – Assessment according to the criterion of the private investor – Capital contribution (Art. 87(1) EC)
(see paras 157-158)*

8.                     *State aid – Commission decision – Assessment of legality by reference to the information available at the time of adoption
of the decision – Foreseeable development of competition to be taken into account (Art. 87(1) EC) (see paras 168-170)*

9.                     *State aid – Administrative procedure – Obligations of the Commission – Duty to act within a reasonable time – Criteria for
assessment – Infringement – Consequences – Annulment of the decision where defence rights infringed (Art. 88(2) EC) (see paras
174-176)*

10.                     *Union law – Principles – Protection of legitimate expectations – Possibility of the Commission taking account of the development
of the common market in relation to a previous decision – No breach of the principle of equal treatment (see paras 199-200,
202-203)*

**Re:**

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| | ACTION for annulment of Commission Decision 2007/582/EC of 10 May 2007 on State aid C 4/2006 (ex N 180/2005) – Portugal – Aid to Djebel (OJ 2007 L 219, p. 30). |

**Operative part**

The Court:

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| 1. | | Dismisses the action; |

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| 2. | | Orders Djebel – SGPS, SA to bear its own costs and to pay those of the European Commission. |