CELEX: C2005/205/55
Language: en
Date: 2005-08-20 00:00:00
Title: Case T-231/05: Action brought on 15 June 2005 by Corsica Ferries France against Commission of the European Communities

20.8.2005   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 205/30
            
         Action brought on 15 June 2005 by Corsica Ferries France against Commission of the European Communities
   (Case T-231/05)
   (2005/C 205/55)
   Language of the case: French
   An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 15 June 2005 by Corsica Ferries France, established in Bastia (France), represented by Stéphane Rodrigues and Alice Jaume, lawyers.
   The applicant claims that the Court should:
   
               1.
            
            
               Annul the Commission Decision of 16 March 2005 concerning the second tranche of restructuring aid paid by France to National Maritime Corse-Méditerranée (SNCM);
            
         
               2.
            
            
               Order the Commission to pay the costs.
            
         Pleas in law and main arguments
   This action is brought against Commission Decision C(2004)4751 final of 16 March 2005 declaring payment of the second tranche of aid given by France to Société Nationale Maritime Corse-Méditerranée (SNCM) for restructuring to be compatible, with certain conditions, with the common market (Aid No C 58/2002, ex N 118(2002)). That decision is a follow-up to the decision of 9 July 2003, which authorised subject to conditions the first tranche of the restructuring aid at issue.
   In support of its claims, the applicant pleads the infringement of Article 87 of the EC Treaty and the rules adopted for its application which are relevant in this case, namely the conditions imposed by the decision of 9 July 2003 and the conditions arising from the Commission's 1997 Community guidelines on State aid to maritime transport (1) and the Commission's 1999 Community Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty (2), as applicable at the time when the examination procedure for the contested aid was opened.
   The applicant states in that connection that, contrary to the decision of 9 July 2003, SNCM's shares in the Compagnie Corse Meditérranée were not sold. Furthermore, SNCM continued to apply a pricing policy aiming to offer lower prices than its competitors.
   Furthermore, as regards the abovementioned Community guidelines, the restructuring plan submitted by the French Republic was not fully implemented. In addition, the amount of aid was not limited to the strict minimum.
   
      (1)  OJ C 205 of 5.7.1997, p. 5
   
   
      (2)  OJ C 288 of 9.10.1999, p. 2