Case C-66/02: Action brought on 28 February 2002 by the Italian Republic against the Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2002-05-04
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Italy, State aid, action for annulment (EU), banking system, control of State aid, tax relief

4.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 109/33

Action brought on 28 February 2002 by the Italian
Republic against the Commission of the European Com-
munities

under Article 87(3) of the Treaty. That constitutes not
only a methodological error but also a failure to state
reasons.

(Case C-66/02)

(d)

(2002/C 109/56)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of Justice of the European
Communities on 28 February 2002 by the Italian Republic,
represented by U. Leanza, acting as Agent, and M. Fiorilli,
avvocato dello Stato.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— Annul the Commission’s Decision of 11 December 2001
in proceeding no C-54/A/2000/EC against the Italian
Republic, notified on 13 January 2002, in that there are
insufficient grounds for holding that the fiscal measures
accompanying the reform of the Italian banking system
constitute ‘State aid’;

— Order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Italian Government claims that the contested decision is
unlawful for the following reasons:

(a) The Commission failed to comply with the obligation to
state the reasons upon which the adopted decision was
based.

(b) The law, which has been called in question with regard
to the effect on competition of the accompanying fiscal
measure, must be regarded as the final part of a process
of reform of the Italian system of credit and, therefore, as
part of an economic reform which should be assessed in
its general and Community law context. The relevance of
that law cannot be appreciated unless the state of the
sector prior to the reform is taken into account. The
contested decision wholly fails to consider those aspects.

(c)

In addressing the Italian Government’s counter-argu-
ments the Commission does not distinguish between
those concerned with the issue whether
the fiscal
measures under investigation may be characterised as
‘State aid’ and those concerned with the alternative issue
whether, if those measures are found to be ‘State aid’,
they qualify for exemption. The Commission possessed
all the information required to assess whether the law in
question constituted a prohibited ‘State aid’ within the
meaning of Article 87(1) of the Treaty, or whether it may
be considered to be compatible with the common market

Specifically as regards the reference to Article 87(3)(b) of
the Treaty, reconstruction of the origins of the Ciampi
law and of Legislative Decree No 153/99 clearly shows
how the Italian legislature sought, by means of the
various measures adopted, to bring about a significant
structural change in the Italian market
for banking
services: the full and final privatisation of all Italian banks.
In order to achieve that objective it was necessary for the
banks to divest themselves of any controlling interests
still held in savings banks and local banks. The elimination
or reduction of the Italian banks’ substantial and persist-
ent holdings of public funds, or at least of funds that are
not attractive to private investors did not, contrary to
the Commission’s clear finding, distort competition by
favouring the recipient undertakings over others but, as
in the case of the southern Italian public banks, resulted
in the reduction of distortions existing prior to the reform
in question between genuinely private banks and those
which are private in form only, but not as regards
the control of capital.
In the opinion of the Italian
Government, the full and final privatisation of the Italian
banks constitutes a ‘project of common European interest’
which, under Article 87(3)(b), justifies a system of aid to
promote its implementation.

Action brought on 28 February 2002 by the Commission
of the European Communities against Ireland

(Case C-67/02)

(2002/C 109/57)

An action against Ireland was brought before the Court of
Justice of the European Communities on 28 February 2002 by
the Commission of the European Communities, represented
by Michael Shotter, acting as agent, with an address for service
in Luxembourg

The Applicant claims that the Court should:

— declare that Ireland has failed to fulfill its obligations
under Council Directive 79/923/EEC (1) on the quality
required of shellfish waters by reason of its failure to
adopt programmes for all of
its designated shellfish
waters in accordance with Article 5 of the Directive;