Case C-385/18: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 19 December 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato — Italy) — Arriva Italia Srl, Ferrotramviaria SpA, Consorzio Trasporti Aziende Pugliesi (CO.TRA.P) v Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti (Reference for a preliminary ruling — State aid — Notion — Public railway undertaking in difficulties — Aid measures — Allocation of financial aid — Aim — Continued operation of the public railway undertaking — Allocation to and shareholding in the capital of that public undertaking — Transfer to the capital of another public undertaking — Private investor test — Prior notification obligation for new aid)
Date: 2019-12-19
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: State aid, allocation of resources, capital transfer, carrier, company in difficulties, control of State aid, public sector, rail transport, shareholding, tendering








C_2020068EN.01000901.xml










2.3.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 68/9






Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 19 December 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato — Italy) — Arriva Italia Srl, Ferrotramviaria SpA, Consorzio Trasporti Aziende Pugliesi (CO.TRA.P) v Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti
(Case C-385/18) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - State aid - Notion - Public railway undertaking in difficulties - Aid measures - Allocation of financial aid - Aim - Continued operation of the public railway undertaking - Allocation to and shareholding in the capital of that public undertaking - Transfer to the capital of another public undertaking - Private investor test - Prior notification obligation for new aid)
(2020/C 68/05)
Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Consiglio di Stato

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicants: Arriva Italia Srl, Ferrotramviaria SpA, Consorzio Trasporti Aziende Pugliesi (CO.TRA.P)

Defendant: Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti

Joined parties: Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane SpA, Gestione Commissariale per le Ferrovie del Sud Est e Servizi Automobilistici Srl a socio unico, Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 107 TFEU must be interpreted as meaning that, subject to the verifications to be carried out by the referring court, both the allocation of a sum of money to a public undertaking in serious financial difficulties and the transfer of the entire shareholding of a Member State in the capital of that undertaking to another public undertaking, for no consideration but in exchange for an obligation on the part of the latter to remedy the asset imbalance of the former undertaking, can be classified as ‘State aid’ within the meaning of Article 107 TFEU.










2.


EU law must be interpreted as meaning that, where measures such as the allocation of a sum of money to a public undertaking in serious financial difficulties or the transfer of the entire shareholding of a Member State in the capital of that undertaking to another public undertaking, for no consideration but in exchange for an obligation on the part of the latter to remedy the asset imbalance of the former, are classified as ‘State aid’ within the meaning of Article 107 TFEU, it is for the referring court to draw all the necessary inferences from the fact that the Commission was not notified of that aid, contrary to Article 108(3) TFEU, and that aid must therefore be regarded as being unlawful.






(1)  OJ C 294, 20.8.2018.