Joined Cases T-254/00, T-270/00 and T-277/00: Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 28 November 2008 — Hotel Cipriani and Others v Commission (State aid — Relief from social security contributions for firms in Venice and Chioggia — Decision declaring the aid scheme incompatible with the common market and requiring recovery of the aid paid out — Admissibility — Individual concern — Conditions concerning effect on trade between Member States and competition — Derogations under Article 87(3)(b) to (e) EC and Article 87(2)(b) EC — Categorisation as new aid or as existing aid — Principles of legal certainty, protection of legitimate expectations, equal treatment and proportionality — Duty to state reasons)
Date: 2008-11-28
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, Italy, State aid, action for annulment (EU), control of State aid

24.1.2009

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 19/23

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 28 November
2008 — Hotel Cipriani and Others v Commission

Operative part of the judgment

(Joined Cases T-254/00, T-270/00 and T-277/00) (1)

(State aid — Relief from social security contributions for
firms in Venice and Chioggia — Decision declaring the aid
scheme incompatible with the common market and requiring
recovery of the aid paid out — Admissibility — Individual
concern — Conditions concerning effect on trade between
Member States and competition — Derogations under
Article 87(3)(b)
to (e) EC and Article 87(2)(b) EC —
Categorisation as new aid or as existing aid — Principles of
legal certainty, protection of legitimate expectations, equal
treatment and proportionality — Duty to state reasons)

The Court:

1. Dismisses the applications;

2. Orders Hotel Cipriani SpA, Società italiana per

il gas SpA
(Italgas), Coopservice — Servizi di fiducia Soc. coop. rl and the
Comitato ‘Venezia vuole vivere’ to bear their own costs and to pay
those of the Commission, and orders Coopservice and the Comitato
‘Venezia vuole vivere’ also to bear the costs of the interlocutory
proceedings.

(1) OJ C 355, 9.12.2000.

(2009/C 19/41)

Language of the case: Italian

Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 26 November
2008 — Agraz and Others v Commission

Parties

(Case T-285/03) (1)

Applicant in Case T-254/00: Hotel Cipriani SpA (Venice, Italy)
(represented by: initially M. Marinoni, G.M. Roberti and F. Sciau-
done, and later G.M. Roberti, F. Sciaudone and A. Bianchini,
lawyers)

(Non-contractual liability — Agriculture — Common organi-
sation of the markets in processed fruit and vegetable products
— Production aid for processed tomato products — Method of
calculating the amount — 2000/2001 marketing year —
Determination of the loss)

Applicant
in Case T-270/00: Società italiana per il gas SpA
(Italgas) (Turin, Italy) (represented by: M. Merola, C. Tesauro, M.
Pappalardo and T. Ubaldi, lawyers)

Applicants in Case T-277/00: Coopservice — Servizi di fiducia
Soc. coop. rl
Italy); and Comitato ‘Venezia vuole
vivere’ (Venice) (represented by: A. Bianchini and A. Vianello,
lawyers)

(Cavriago,

Parties

(2009/C 19/42)

Language of the case: French

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: V. Di Bucci, Agent, assisted by A. Dal Ferro, lawyer)

Applicants: Agraz, SA (Madrid, Spain) and the 86 applicants
listed in Annexes I and II to the judgment (represented by: J.L.
da Cruz Vilaça, D. Choussy and S. Estima Martins)

Italian
Intervener in support of
Republic
and later
I. Braguglia, Agents, and by P. Gentili and S. Fiorentino, lawyers)

the applicant in Case T-270/00:
initially U. Leanza,

(represented by:

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: M. Nolin, Agent)

Re:

Action for annulment of Commission Decision 2000/394/EC of
25 November 1999 on aid to firms in Venice and Chioggia by
way of relief
from social security contributions under Laws
Nos 30/1997 and 206/1995 (OJ 2000 L 150, p. 50)

Re:

production aid

Action for damages for the loss allegedly suffered by the appli-
cants as the result of the method used to calculate the amount
under Commission Regulation (EC)
of
No 1519/2000 of 12 July 2000 setting for the 2000/2001
marketing year the minimum price and the amount of produc-
tion aid for processed tomato products (OJ 2003 L 174, p. 29).