Order;Information — ECLI:EU:C:2024:138
Date: 2024-02-08
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: State aids;Competition
Procedure: Action for annulment;Appeal - unfounded
Origin: Italy

Order of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 8 February 2024 – Tirrenia di navigazione v Commission (Case C‑515/22 P) (1) ( Appeal – Article 181 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court – State aid – Maritime transport – Service of general economic interest – Aid granted to a maritime transport undertaking – Decision declaring the aid unlawful – Decision declaring the aid incompatible with the internal market and ordering that it be recovered – Interest accrued – Limitation period – New aid – Incompatibility with the internal market – Effects of a cartel on the market – Excessive length of the procedure – Protection of legitimate expectations – Legal certainty – Principle of good administration ) 1. Aid granted by a Member State – 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 No 2015/1589, Art. 17(2)) (see paragraphs 21-28) 2. Aid granted by a Member State – Existing aid and new aid – Concept – 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 paragraphs 42-43) 3. Aid granted by a Member State – Existing aid and new aid – Measure amending an existing aid scheme – Modification of the compensation mechanism, the payment period and the budgetary resources allocated – Alterations affecting the substance of the scheme – Classification of the scheme as new aid (Council Regulation No 659/1999, Art. 1(b) and (c)) (see paragraphs 44-49) 4. Aid granted by a Member State – 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 – No breach of the principle of proportionality (Arts 107 and 108 TFEU) (see paragraphs 56 and 57) 5. Aid granted by a Member State – Administrative procedure – Obligations of the Commission – Diligent and impartial examination – Compliance with the principle of sound administration – Examination of several national aid measures in a single procedure – Whether permissible (Arts 108(2) and 335 TFEU) (see paragraphs 73-75) 6. Judicial proceedings – Production of evidence – Time limit – Evidence lodged out of time – Conditions – Submission of a decision by the Commission several months after the decision of the General Court to rule without an oral part of the procedure – Not permissible (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 85(3)) (see paragraphs 87-91) Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the appeal as manifestly unfounded; 2. Orders Tirrenia di navigazione SpA to pay the costs. 1 OJ C 359, 19.9.2022.