Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2014:71
Date: 2014-02-13
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Second Chamber
Subject matter: State aids;Competition
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber), 13 February 2014 1. State aid — Commission decision declaring an aid scheme incompatible with the internal market and ordering its recovery — Whether possible for the Commission to leave the national authorities to calculate the precise amount to be recovered (Art. 108 TFEU; Council Regulation No 659/1999, Art. 14) 2. State aid — Commission decision declaring an aid scheme incompatible with the internal market and ordering its recovery — Failure to identify the individual recipients and the amounts to be recovered — Assessment by the national court — Adoptions of positions by the Commission in the immediate and effective enforcement of the recovery decision — Lack of binding nature — Taking those positions into consideration as a factor in the assessment in the light of the principle of cooperation in good faith (Art. 4(3) TEU; Art. 288, fourth para., TFEU; Council Regulation No 659/1999, Art. 14) 3. State aid — Recovery of unlawful aid — Calculation of the amount to be recovered — Assessment on the basis of the principle of cooperation in good faith — Obligation on the national court to assess all the relevant matters of which it has been made aware — Amount to be recovered equal to zero (Art. 4(3) TEU; Art. 288, fourth para., TFEU; Council Regulation No 659/1999, Art. 14) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 21, 22) 2. Although, in order to ensure that a European Commission decision declaring an aid scheme unlawful and incompatible with the internal market and ordering the recovery of the aid in question, but not identifying the individual recipients of that aid and not determining the precise amounts to be recovered is executed, the national court is bound by that decision, it is not, by contrast, bound by the positions adopted by that institution in the execution of that decision. However, in accordance with the principle of cooperation in good faith laid down in Article 4(3) TEU, the national court must take the statements of position into account as a factor in the assessment of the dispute before it. To the extent that the elements contained in those statements of position, as well as the Commission opinions which may be sought by the national court, are intended to facilitate the accomplishment of the task of the national authorities in the immediate and effective execution of the recovery decision and, having regard to the principle of cooperation in good faith, the national court must take them into account as a factor in the assessment of the dispute before it and must state reasons having regard to all the documents in the file submitted to it. (see paras 31, 32, operative part 1) 3. The national court, when determining the exact amounts of aid to be recovered and where the European Commission, in its decision declaring an aid scheme unlawful and incompatible with the internal market, has not identified the individual recipients of the aid in question or determined the precise amounts to be repaid, may conclude, without calling into question the validity of the European Commission’s decision or the obligation to repay the aid in question, that the amount of aid to be repaid is equal to zero where this follows from the calculations made on the basis of all the relevant information of which it has been made aware. (see para. 40, operative part 2)