Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 15 October 2020 –

První novinová společnost v Commission

(Case T‑316/18)

(State aid – Postal sector – Universal service obligation – Decision not to raise any objections – Safeguarding procedural rights – Duration of the procedure – Complete and sufficient examination of the case by the Commission – Compensation for the discharge of the universal service obligation – Service of general economic interest – Directive 97/67/EC – Net avoided cost methodology – Obligation to state reasons)

1. State aid – Planned aid – Examination by the Commission – Preliminary review and main review – Compatibility of aid with the internal market – Difficulties of assessment – Commission's duty to initiate the main review procedure – Serious difficulties – Concept – Objective nature – Burden of proof – Circumstances enabling the existence of such difficulties to be determined (Arts 107(1) and 108(2) and (3) TFEU; Council Regulation 2015/1589, Art. 4(5)) (see paras 88-94)

2. State aid – Planned aid – Examination by the Commission – Preliminary review and main review – Compatibility of aid with the internal market – Difficulties of assessment – Commission's duty to initiate the main review procedure – Serious difficulties – Circumstances enabling the existence of such difficulties to be determined – Length of the preliminary investigation procedure – Particularly long duration of the preliminary investigation procedure due to objective circumstances unrelated to any serious difficulties (Arts 107(1) and 108(2) and (3) TFEU; Council Regulation 2015/1589, Art. 4(5)) (see paras 103, 116-139)

3. State aid – Planned aid – Examination by the Commission – Preliminary phase – Duration – Maximum period of two months – Calculation of the duration of the preliminary examination as from receipt of full notification – Concept of full notification (Art. 108(2) and (3) TFEU; Council Regulation 2015/1589, Art. 4(5)) (see paras 105-110)

4. State aid – Planned aid – Examination by the Commission – Preliminary review and main review – Obligation of the Commission to open the main procedure where there are serious difficulties – Request for additional information not in itself revealing the existence of serious difficulties (Art. 108(2) and (3) TFEU) (see paras 142-145)

5. State aid – Planned aid – Examination by the Commission – Preliminary review and main review – Compatibility of aid with the internal market – Difficulties of assessment – Commission's duty to initiate the main review procedure – Serious difficulties – Burden of proof – Circumstances enabling the existence of such difficulties to be determined – Insufficiency or incompleteness of the examination carried out by the Commission during the preliminary investigation procedure (Art. 108(2) and (3) TFEU; Council Regulation 2015/1589, Art. 4) (see paras 149-156, 212)

6. Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope – Commission decision on State aid – Decision not to open the formal investigation procedure – Brief summary of reasons leading the Commission to conclude that there were no serious difficulties assessing compatibility of the aid concerned with the internal market – Sufficient statement of reasons (Art. 296, second para. TFEU) (see paras 217-229)

7. State aid – Prohibition – Exceptions – Undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest – Compensation for the costs generated by the public service mission – Assessment of the compatibility of aid with the internal market – Criteria (Art. 106(2) TFEU) (see paras 233-236, 248-254, 259-279, 282-291, 297-302, 311-317, 322-332)

Re:

Application under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of Commission Decision C(2018) 753 final of 19 February 2018, State aid SA.45281 (2017/N) and State aid SA. 44859 (2016/FC), declaring that the compensations granted by the Czech Republic to Česká pošta for the performance of its postal activities under a universal service obligation for the period 2013 to 2017 constitute State aid compatible with the internal market, pursuant to Article 106(2) TFEU.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders První novinová společnost a.s., successor in law to Mediaservis s. r. o., to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission;