Keywords

Summary



Keywords

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1. Actions for annulment of measures ° Natural or legal persons ° Measures of direct and individual concern to them ° Decision of the Commission in response to a complaint that the Community rules have been infringed ° Procedural guarantees available to complainant undertakings ° Right to bring an action

(EEC Treaty, Art. 173, second para.)

2. Actions for annulment of measures ° Natural or legal persons ° Measures of direct and individual concern to them ° Decision of the Commission finding aid compatible with the Treaty ° Complainant undertaking ° Right to bring an action ° Conditions

(EEC Treaty, Arts 93(2) and 173, second para.)

3. Actions for annulment of measures ° Natural or legal persons ° Measures of direct and individual concern to them ° Decision of the Commission finding aid compatible with the Treaty ° Action brought by a professional association which participated in the administrative procedure with a view to defending therein the interests of its members, to whom the matter is of direct and individual concern ° Admissible

(EEC Treaty, Arts 93(2) and 173, second para.)

4. State aid ° General aid scheme approved by the Commission ° Approval conditional on notification of individual significant cases with a view to an examination of their impact on intra-Community trade and competition ° Commission obliged to undertake the examination provided for

5. State aid ° Examination by the Commission ° Aid granted to Greek undertakings ° Protocol No 7 to the Act of Accession of the Hellenic Republic ° Scope

(EEC Treaty, Arts 92 and 93; Act of Accession of the Hellenic Republic, Protocol No 7

Summary

1. Where a regulation accords applicant undertakings procedural guarantees entitling them to request the Commission to find an infringement of Community rules, those undertakings should be able to institute proceedings in order to protect their legitimate interests.

2. In view of the fact that Article 93(2) of the Treaty recognizes in general terms that the undertakings concerned are entitled to submit their comments, the Commission' s decision finding aid compatible with the Treaty is of direct and individual concern to the undertakings which originally lodged the complaint leading to the opening of the aid investigation procedure, and which subsequently played a decisive role in the conduct of that procedure, provided that their position on the market is significantly affected by the aid which the contested decision has left intact and the effects of which have been allowed to manifest themselves.

3. A professional association which has protected, within the framework of the procedure laid down by Article 93(2) of the Treaty, the interests of some of its members in accordance with the powers conferred on it by its statutes, without any objection from those members, and which has shown that a decision of the Commission is of direct and individual concern to those members, must be regarded as individually concerned by that decision within the meaning of Article 173 of the Treaty, and cannot be treated as an association which has not taken part in the administrative procedure or which, in that procedure, has defended only interests of a general nature.

4. A decision whereby the Commission authorizes a general State aid scheme on condition that individual significant cases be notified with a view to an assessment of their impact on intra-Community trade and commerce cannot constitute blanket approval of all aid granted pursuant to that scheme, since the obligation to notify significant cases must be interpreted as a reservation on the approval contained in the decision itself.

Consequently, where the Commission declares compatible with the common market an individual significant grant of aid of which it has been notified, without first undertaking the examination provided for by the authorization decision, it commits an error of law.

5. Protocol No 7 to the Act of Accession of the Hellenic Republic does not constitute an exception to Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty but merely requires the Commission to take into consideration, when assessing the effects of aid to a Greek undertaking, the objectives set forth in that protocol. It in no way relieves the Commission of its duty to undertake the examination provided for by Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty and, in particular, to examine the impact of the aid on competition and intra-Community trade