Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2022:302
Date: 2022-05-18
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: State aids;Competition
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Italy

Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 18 May 2022 – Tirrenia di navigazione v Commission (Case T‑601/20) (1) (State aid – Maritime transport – Service of general economic interest – Aid granted to Adriatica for the period from January 1992 to July 1994 in relation to the Brindisi/Corfu/Igoumenitsa/Patras connection – Decision declaring the aid unlawful – Decision declaring the aid incompatible with the internal market and ordering its recovery – Interest accrued – Limitation period – New aid – Incompatibility with the internal market – Effects of a cartel on the market – Excessive duration of the procedure – Legitimate expectations – Legal certainty – Principle of good administration) 1. State aid – Recovery of unlawful aid – Restoration of the prior situation – Limitation period applicable to the recovery of interest on unlawful aid – Interruption of the limitation period by several requests for information addressed by the Commission to the Member State concerned (Art. 108(2) TFEU; Council Regulation 2015/1589, Art. 17) (see paras 53-62) 2. State aid – Existing aid and new aid – Meaning – State aid scheme for maritime transport introduced before the date of accession of the Member State concerned – Application of the aid scheme to new international routes not covered by the original aid scheme – Classification as new aid (Council Regulation No 659/1999, Art. 1(b)(i)) (see paras 87, 88, 91-93) 3. State aid – Existing aid and new aid – Measure amending an existing aid scheme – Modification of the compensation mechanism, the payment period and the budgetary resources allocated – Modifications affecting the substance of the scheme – Classification of the scheme as new aid (Council Regulation No 659/1999, Art. 1(b) and (c)) (see paras 89, 95-107) 4. State aid – Prohibition – Exceptions – Undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest – Compensation for the costs generated by the public service mission – Assessment of the compatibility of the compensation granted with the internal market – Observance of coherence between the Treaty FEU on State aid and other provisions of the Treaty FEU covering the functioning of the internal market – Undertaking entrusted with the management of services of general economic interest which has participated in a cartel relating to those services – Contradiction between the objective of the cartel and the objective of the compensation granted – Incompatibility of compensation with the internal market (Arts 107(1) and 108 TFEU) (see paras 118-122) 5. State aid – Recovery of unlawful aid – Recipient of the aid who participated in a cartel for the services which are the subject of the aid – Commission decisions imposing a cartel fine and ordering recovery of the unlawful aid – Breach of principle of proportionality – None (Arts 107 and 108 TFEU) (see paras 132-134) 6. State aid – Recovery of unlawful aid – Aid granted in breach of the procedural rules of Article 108 TFEU – Legitimate expectations entertained by the recipients – None save in exceptional circumstances – Legitimate expectation arising from the excessive length of the administrative procedure – Obligation on the Commission to make a decision within a reasonable period – Assessment of actual situation (Arts 107 and 108 TFEU; Council Regulation 2015/1589, Art. 16(1)) (see paras 147-153, 156-177) Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Tirrenia di navigazione SpA to pay the costs. 1 OJ C 378, 9.11.2020.