Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2016:603
Date: 2016-10-11
Language of the case: Danish
Court formation: First Chamber
Subject matter: State aids;Competition
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Denmark

Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 11 October 2016 — Søndagsavisen v Commission (Case T‑167/14) State Aid — Aid scheme to support production and innovation aid for written media — Decision not to raise objections — Decision declaring the aid scheme compatible with the internal market — Procedural rights of the interested parties — No serious difficulties — Obligation to state reasons 1. State aid — Planned aid — Examination by the Commission — Preliminary review and main review — Compatibility of aid with the internal market — Difficulties of assessment — Commission’s duty to initiate the main review procedure — Serious difficulties — Definition — Objective nature — Burden of proof — Circumstances enabling the existence of such difficulties to be determined (Arts 107(1), and 108(2) and (3) TFEU; Council Regulation No 659/1999, Arts 4(4), and 13(1)) (see paras 17-24) 2. State aid — Prohibition — Exceptions — Aid which may be considered compatible with the common market — Discretion of the Commission — Judicial review — Limits (Art. 107(3)(c) TFEU) (see para. 25) 3. State aid — Concept — Selective nature of the measure — Differentiation between undertakings in a comparable factual and legal situation (Art. 107(1) TFEU) (see para. 90) 4. State aid — Planned aid — Examination by the Commission — Assessment of the validity of a Commission decision taken at the conclusion of the preliminary investigation phase by reference to information available at the time the decision adopted (Art. 108(2) and (3) TFEU; Council Regulation No 659/1999, Arts 4 and 5) (see para. 98) 5. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope (Art. 269 TFEU) (see para. 109) Re: APPLICATION under Article 263 TFEU seeking the annulment of Commission Decision C(2013) 7870 final of 20 November 2013 concerning State aid SA.36366 (2013/N) notified by the Kingdom of Denmark in favour of production and innovation aid to written media. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Søndagsavisen A/S to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission; 3. Orders the Kingdom of Denmark to bear its own costs.