Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2014:2208
Date: 2014-09-11
Language of the case: Portuguese
Court formation: First Chamber
Subject matter: Transport
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Portugal

Summary — Judgment of the Court (First Chamber), 11 September 2014 1. Transport — Air transport — Access to the groundhandling market at European Union airports — Selection of suppliers — National legislation laying down a selection procedure which is not open to every interested supplier — Not permissible (Council Directive 96/67, Arts 11 and 18) 2. EU law — Principles — Protection of legitimate expectations — Conditions — Specific assurances given by the authorities 3. Member States — Obligations arising under EU law — Failure to fulfil obligations — National system pleaded as justification — Not permissible (Art. 258 TFEU) 4. Actions for failure to fulfil obligations — Examination of the merits by the Court — Situation to be taken into consideration — Situation on expiry of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion (Art. 258 TFEU) 1. National legislation laying down a procedure for the transfer of a company’s shares not open to every interested supplier cannot be regarded as equivalent to a procedure for the selection of suppliers of groundhandling services within the meaning of Article 11 of Directive 96/67 on access to the groundhandling market at Community airports. A procedure for the transfer of shares excludes all suppliers which are not at the same time investors interested in acquiring the shares of a pre-existing company which, after its acquisition, retained the authorisation to provide groundhandling services which had been granted to it, with the result that it was not possible for a supplier of groundhandling services to obtain the authorisation without, at the same time, acquiring the shares. In addition, such a procedure is not covered by Article 18 of Directive 96/67. In this regard, it should be noted that, first, where an undertaking has obtained a licence to supply groundhandling services upon acquiring the shares of the company acquired, that does not allow the conclusion to be drawn that the future conduct of such an undertaking will remain unchanged after it has obtained the licence and, in particular, that that undertaking will preserve all existing employment posts in the company acquired. Second, it is established that the obligation imposed on the undertakings to take over the staff of the previous supplier puts potential new competitors at a disadvantage in relation to established undertakings and jeopardises the opening-up of the groundhandling markets, thereby undermining the effectiveness of Directive 96/67. (see paras 47-51, 54, 55) 2. See the text of the decision. (see para. 56) 3. See the text of the decision. (see para. 59) 4. See the text of the decision. (see para. 60)