Order of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 26 September 2016 — Greenpeace Energy and Others v Commission

(Case T‑382/15)

‛Action for annulment — State aid — Nuclear energy — Aid in support of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station — Contract for difference, agreement of the Secretary of State and credit guarantee — Decision declaring the aid to be compatible with the internal market — No significant effect on a competitive position — No individual concern — Inadmissibility’

1. Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Commission decision terminating an aid proceeding — Competitor of the undertaking receiving the aid — Right to bring an action — Conditions (Arts 108(2) TFEU and 263, fourth para., TFEU) (see paras 34-39)

2. Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Commission decision finding an aid compatible with the internal market — Action by an undertaking not demonstrating that its market position was substantially affected — Inadmissibility (Arts 108(2) TFEU and 263, fourth para., TFEU) (see paras 41-44, 77, 78, 88-94)

3. Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Commission decision finding State aid compatible with the internal market at the conclusion of the formal investigation procedure — Action by entities in the renewable energy sector opposing aid in favour of a nuclear power station — Invocation of the pursuit, in the context of their activity, of the objectives of EU policy in environmental and energy matters — Not individually concerned — Inadmissibility (Arts 191(1) TFEU, 194(1)(c) TFEU and 263, fourth para., TFEU) (see paras 116-118, 121, 123, 125, 127)

4. Fundamental rights — Right to effective judicial protection — Review of legality of EU measures — Procedures — Protection of that right by the EU judicature or by the national courts according to the legal nature of the contested measure — Possibility of using an annulment action or reference for a preliminary ruling on validity (Art. 19(1) TEU; Arts 263, fourth para., TFEU, 267 TFEU and 277 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47) (see paras 134-142)

5. Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Meaning of ‘regulatory act’ in Article 263, fourth paragraph, TFEU — Any act of general scope other than legislative acts — Commission decision declaring an individual aid compatible with the internal market — Exclusion (Art 263, fourth para., TFEU) (see paras 148-151)

Re:

APPLICATION under Article 263 TFEU for the annulment of Decision (EU) 2015/658 of 8 October 2014 on the aid measure SA.34947 (2013/C) (ex 2013/N) which the United Kingdom is planning to implement for support to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station (OJ 2015 L 109, p. 44).

Operative part

1. The action is dismissed as inadmissible.

2. There is no need to rule on the applications for leave to intervene submitted by NNB Generation Company Limited, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the French Republic, the Czech Republic and the Republic of Poland.

3. Greenpeace Energy eG and the other applicants whose names are set out in the annex are ordered to bear their own costs and pay those incurred by the European Commission, with the exception of the costs relating to the applications for leave to intervene.