Case C-348/25 P: Appeal brought on 22 May 2025 by PGI Spain, SL, Berry Superfos Pamplona, SA, Promens Packaging, SA, RPC Envases, SA and Zeller Plastik España, SL against the judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber, Extended Composition) delivered on 12/03/2025 in Case T-596/22, PGI Spain and Others v Commission
Date: 2025-05-22
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Portugal, Spain, State aid, control of State aid, electrical energy, energy production, price of energy, price reduction, production cost, wholesale price








C_202503512EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/3512


7.7.2025






Appeal brought on 22 May 2025 by PGI Spain, SL, Berry Superfos Pamplona, SA, Promens Packaging, SA, RPC Envases, SA and Zeller Plastik España, SL against the judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber, Extended Composition) delivered on 12/03/2025 in Case T-596/22, PGI Spain and Others v Commission


(Case C-348/25 P)

(C/2025/3512)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Appellants: PGI Spain, SL, Berry Superfos Pamplona, SA, Promens Packaging, SA, RPC Envases, SA, Zeller Plastik España, SL (represented by: P. Holtrop, abogado)

Other parties to the proceedings: European Commission, Kingdom of Spain

Form of order sought

The appellants claim that the Court should:






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annul the judgement under appeal;










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give final judgement in the matter and annul the European Commission’s Decision C(2022) 3942 final of 8 June 2022 on State aid SA.102454 (2022/N) – Spain and SA.102569 (2022/N) – Portugal – Production cost adjustment mechanism for the reduction of the electricity wholesale price in the Iberian market (‘the contested decision’);










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subsidiarily, refer the case back to the General Court;










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admit and take into account the new pleas in law and evidence introduced on 10 August 2023;










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order the General Court to produce the recording of the hearing in case T-596/22 as a measure of organisation;










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require the Commission and Spain to provide the notifications submitted to the Commission in relation to the adjustment mechanism by Spain and Portugal on 20 and 23 May 2022, and the additional information submitted by Spain and Portugal on 24 and 26 May and on 6 June 2022;










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order the Commission to pay the costs of the appellants, both in relation to the appeal and the procedure before the General Court.





Pleas in law and main arguments

The new pleas in law and evidence should have been admitted and taken into account because they provide relevant evidence on facts previous to the adoption of the contested decision.
The appellants believe that the General Court should have awarded the measure of organization they requested because they met the evidence threshold set by the General Court. Without justification that evidence threshold was set higher than it normally is. In addition, the usual requirements for a measure of organization to be ordered were also met.
The appellants claim to have provided relevant evidence showing that the information available to the Commission objectively rose doubts as to the compatibility of the notified measure to reduce wholesale electricity prices in the Iberian Peninsula with the internal market. This information was also available to the Commission on the basis of the uncontested knowledge of Spain and the legal obligations of the defendant and the intervener. More additional evidence could have been presented if the measure of organization in caste T-596/22 had been awarded.
Taking into account the objective of the notified measure and the exemption from the contribution, which did not include retail market buyers who had entered into financial power purchase agreements, that exemption constituted state aid and was discriminatory.
The appellants allege that the notified measure infringed Regulation 2019/943 (1) and Directive 2019/944 (2). They claim to have shown that the Commission should have taken into account the situation of retail market buyers who had entered into financial power purchase agreements. Thus, a decision on the plea should have been reached on the basis of the arguments submitted in the procedure.


(1)  Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the internal market for electricity (OJ 2019 L 158, p. 54).

(2)  Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU (OJ 2019 L 158, p. 125).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/3512/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)