Case T-324/00: Judgment of the Court of First Instance of  19 October 2005  — CDA Datenträger Albrechts v Commission (State aid — Misuse of aid — Risk of circumvention of the order for recovery — Recovery of aid from the companies which acquired the operating assets from the original beneficiary)
Date: 2005-12-24
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: Germany, State aid, action for annulment (EU), audiovisual industry, control of State aid

24.12.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 330/15

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 19 October
2005 — Freistaat Thüringen v Commission

(Case T-318/00) (1)

(State aid — Misuse of aid — Likelihood of circumventing
the recovery order — Recovery of aid from the companies
which acquired the current assets from the initial recipient)

(2005/C 330/38)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Applicant(s): Freistaat Thüringen (Germany) (represented by: M.
Schütte, lawyer)

Defendant(s): Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: K.D. Borchardt and V. Kreuschitz, Agents, assisted
by C. Koenig)

in support of

Intervener(s)
Germany, represented by W.-D. Plessing and T.
Agents, assisted by R. Bierwagen, lawyer

the applicant(s): Federal Republic of
Jürgensen,

— in Article 1(2) it includes as part of the aid granted for the
restructuring of CDA Compact Disc Albrechts GmbH an
in PA/CD
amount of DEM 33 million in share capital
Albrechts and an amount of DEM 21,3 million in interest-
rate advantages;

— in Article 1(2) it states that the purchase price of DEM 3
million and the DEM 15 million loan granted by the LfA
constitutes aid ‘for the restructuring of CDA Compact Disc
Albrechts GmbH’;

— in Article 2 it orders the recovery of the aid referred to in
Article 1 from CDA Datenträger Albrechts GmbH and LCA
Logistik Center Albrechts GmbH, as well as any other under-
taking to which R.E. Pilz GmbH & Co. Beteiligungs KG's,
Pilz & Robotron GmbH & Co. Beteiligungs KG's and Pilz
Albrechts GmbH's assets and/or
infrastructure have been
transferred or will be transferred in such a way as to evade the
consequences of that decision.

2) Dismisses the remainder of the action.

3) Orders the Commission to pay its own costs and those of the
Land of Thuringia and orders the Federal Republic of Germany
and ODS Optical Disc Service GmbH to bear their own costs.

in support of

the defendant(s): ODS Optical Disc
Intervener(s)
Service GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) (represented by I. Brinker
and U. Soltész, lawyers)

(1) OJ C 355 of 9.12.2000

Subject-matter of the case

for

annulment

Application
Commission Decision
2000/796/EC of 21 June 2000 on State aid granted by
Germany to CDA Compact Disc Albrechts GmbH (Thuringia)
(OJ 2000 L 318, p. 62),

of

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1) Annuls Commission Decision 2000/796/EC of 21 June 2000
on State aid granted by Germany to CDA Compact Disc
Albrechts GmbH (Thuringia) in so far as:

— in Article 1(1) it includes, as part of the aid granted to R. E.
Pilz GmbH & Co Beteiligungs KG, Pilz & Robotron GmbH &
Co. Beteiligungs KG and Pilz Albrechts GmbH for the estab-
lishment, operation and consolidation of
the CD plant in
Albrechts (Thuringia), an amount of DEM 54,7 million
under the Land of Bavaria's guarantee, an amount of DEM 3
million as debt waiver, and an amount of DEM 63,45
million as part of
the investment grants and allowances
provided by the Land of Thuringia and the Land of Bavaria;

Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 19 October
2005 — CDA Datenträger Albrechts v Commission

(Case T-324/00) (1)

(State aid — Misuse of aid — Risk of circumvention of the
order for recovery — Recovery of aid from the companies
which acquired the operating assets from the original benefi-
ciary)

(2005/C 330/39)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Applicant(s): CDA Datenträger Albrechts GmbH (Albrechts,
Germany)
(represented by: T. Schmidt-Kötters and D. Uwer,
lawyers)

C 330/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

24.12.2005

Defendant(s): Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: K.-D. Borchardt and V. Kreuschitz, Agents, assisted
by C. Koenig)

Defendant(s): Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: A. Bouquet and W. Wils, Agents)

in support of

Intervener(s)
Germany (represented by: W.-D. Plessing and T.
Agents, assisted by R. Bierwagen, lawyer)

the applicant(s): Federal Republic of
Jürgensen,

in support of

the defendant(s): ODS Optical Disc
Intervener(s)
Service GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) (represented by: I. Brinker
and U. Soltész, lawyers)

Application for

annulment of Commission Decision 2003/569/EC of 5
December 2001 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of
the EC Treaty (Case IV/37.614/F3 PO/Interbrew and Alken-
Maes) (OJ 2003 L 200, p. 1) and, as a subsidiary plea, a reduc-
tion in the fine imposed on the applicant under Article 2 of
that decision.

Application for

annulment of Commission Decision 2000/796/EC of 21 June
2000 on State aid granted by Germany to CDA Compact Disc
Albrechts GmbH, Thuringia (OJ 2000 L 318, p. 62).

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1. Sets

the amount of

the

fine

imposed on the applicant at

EUR 42,4125 million;

2. Dismisses the remainder of the action;

1. Annuls Article 2(3) of Commission Decision 2000/796/EC of
21 June 2000 on State aid granted by Germany to CDA
Compact Disc Albrechts GmbH, Thuringia;

3. Orders the applicant to bear its own costs and three-quarters of
those incurred by the Commission. The Commission shall bear a
quarter of its own costs.

2. Declares that there is no longer any need to adjudicate on the

remainder of the action for annulment;

(1) OJ C 97, 20.4.2002.

3. Orders the Commission to bear its own costs and the costs of
CDA Datenträger Albrechts GmbH. The Federal Republic of
Germany and ODS Optical Disc Service GmbH are to bear their
own costs.

(1) OJ 2000 C 355.

Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 25 October
2005 — Salvador García v Commission

Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 25 October
2005 — Groupe Danone v Commission

(Case T-38/02) (1)

(Competition — Agreements and concreted practices — Fines
— Guidelines for the calculation of the amount of fines —
Communication on cooperation)

(Case T-205/02) (1)

(Officials — Remuneration — Expatriation allowance —
Article 4(1)(a) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations —
Work done for another State or for an international organi-
sation — Meaning of ‘habitually reside’ — Statement of
reasons)

(2005/C 330/41)

Language of the case: Spanish

(2005/C 330/40)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Parties

Applicant(s): Groupe Danone (Paris, France) (represented by: A.
Winckler and M. Waha, lawyers)

Defendant(s): Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: J. Currall, Agent, assisted by J. Rivas Andrés and J.
Gutiérrez Gisbert, lawyers)

Applicant(s): Beatriz Salvador García (Brussels, Belgium) (repre-
sented by: J. García-Gallardo Gil-Fournier, J. Guillem Carrau, D.
Domínguez Pérez and A. Sayagués Torres, lawyers)