Judgment of the Court of 3 May 2001 in Case C-204/97: Portuguese Republic v Commission of the European Communities (State aid — Aid for producers of liqueur wines and eaux-de-vie — Aid granted by the French Republic in the context of an increase in internal taxation)
Date: 2001-07-14
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Portugal, State aid, action for annulment (EU), restriction on competition, wine

C 200/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

14.7.2001

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

of 3 May 2001

in Case C-204/97: Portuguese Republic v Commission of
the European Communities (1)

(Sixth Chamber)

of 3 May 2001

(State aid — Aid for producers of liqueur wines and eaux-
de-vie — Aid granted by the French Republic in the context
of an increase in internal taxation)

in Joined Cases C-76/98 P and C-77/98 P: Ajinomoto Co.,
Inc. and The NutraSweet Company v Council of the
European Union (1)

(2001/C 200/13)

(Language of the case: Portuguese)

(Appeal — Dumping — Normal value — Existence of a
patent in the exporter’s domestic market — Effect on the
lawfulness of the regulation imposing a definitive anti-
dumping duty of an allegedly illegal element of the regulation
imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty)

(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
in the European Court Reports)

(2001/C 200/14)

In Case C-204/97: Portuguese Republic (Agents: L. Fernandes,
Aˆ . Seiça Neves and C. Botelho Moniz) supported by Kingdom
of Spain (Agent: R. Silva de Lapuerta) v Commission of the
European Communities (Agents: A. M. Alves Vieira and
D. Triantafyllou) supported by French Republic (Agents:
K. Rispal-Bellanger and G. Mignot) — application for annul-
ment of the Commission’s decision of 6 November 1996
concerning aid intended to be granted by the French Republic
to producers of liqueur wines and eaux de vie in the form of
aid for promotional measures and technical aid for research,
technical support and investment, a summary of which was
published in the Official Journal of the European Communities of
6 March 1997 (OJ 1997 C 70, p. 14) — the Court, composed
of: C. Gulmann, President of the Third and Sixth Chambers,
acting for the President, A. La Pergola, M. Wathelet and
V. Skouris (Presidents of Chambers), D.A.O. Edward (Rapporte-
ur), J.-P. Puissochet, P. Jann, L. Sevo´ n and R. Schintgen, Judges;
S. Alber, Advocate General; H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar,
for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 3 May 2001, in
which it:

1. Annuls the Commission’s decision of 6 November 1996
concerning aid intended to be granted by the French Republic
to producers of liqueur wines and eaux de vie in the form of aid
for promotional measures and technical aid for
research,
technical support and investment;

2. Orders the Commission of the European Communities to pay

the costs;

3. Orders the Kingdom of Spain and the French Republic to bear

their own costs.

(Language of the case: English)

In Joined Cases C-76/98 P and C-77/98 P: Ajinomoto Co.,
Inc., established in Tokyo (Japan), represented by M. Siragusa,
avvocato, T. Müller-Ibold, Rechtsanwalt, and V. Donaldson,
solicitor, with an address for service in Luxembourg, and The
NutraSweet Company, established at Deerfield (United States),
represented by J.-F. Bellis, avocat, and F. Di Gianni, avvocato,
with an address for service in Luxembourg — appeals against
the judgment of the Court of First Instance of the European
Communities (Fifth Chamber, Extended Composition) of
18 December 1997 in Joined Cases T-159/94 and T-160/94
Ajinomoto and NutraSweet v Council [1997] ECR II-2461,
seeking to have that judgment set aside, the other parties to
the proceedings being: Council of the European Union (Agents:
G. Houttuin and S. Marquardt, assisted by H.-J. Rabe and
G.M. Berrisch) and Commission of the European Communities
(Agent: N. Khan) — the Court (Sixth Chamber), composed of:
C. Gulmann, President of the Chamber, V. Skouris (Rapporte-
ur),
Judges;
P. Léger, Advocate General; H.A. Rühl, Principal Administrator,
for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 3 May 2001, in
which it:

J.-P. Puissochet, R. Schintgen and F. Macken,

1. Dismisses the appeals;

2. Orders Ajinomoto Co., Inc. and The NutraSweet Company to
bear their own costs and to pay the costs incurred by the Council
of the European Union in these proceedings;

3. Orders the Commission of the European Communities to bear

its own costs.

(1) OJ C 212 of 12.7.1997.

(1) OJ C 166 of 30.5.1998.