CELEX: 62010CN0179
Language: en
Date: 2010-04-09 00:00:00
Title: Case C-179/10: Action brought on 9 April 2010 — European Commission v France

19.6.2010   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 161/35
            
         
      Action brought on 9 April 2010 — European Commission v France
      (Case C-179/10)
      (2010/C 161/52)
      Language of the case: French
      
         Parties
      
      
         Applicant: European Commission (represented by: E. Gippini Fournier and K. Walkerová, acting as Agents)
      
         Defendant: French Republic
      
         Form of order sought
      
      
                  —
               
               
                  declare that, by failing to implement Commission Decision 2005/238/EC of 14 July 2004 concerning aid granted to the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Corsica from 1986 to 1999 (1) by recovering from the beneficiaries thereof aid declared unlawful and incompatible with the common market by Article 1 of that decision and by failing to inform the Commission of the measures taken to comply with that decision, the French Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under the fourth paragraph of Article 288 TFEU and Articles 4 and 5 of that decision;
               
            
                  —
               
               
                  order the French Republic to pay the costs.
               
            
         Pleas in law and main arguments
      
      Pursuant to Article 4 of Commission Decision 2005/238/EC, France is required to inform the Commission, within two months of notification of that decision, of the measures taken to comply with it. In the present case, more than 5 years after the receipt of the Decision by the French authorities and despite seven reminders, the aid granted has not yet been recovered from the beneficiary firms and no effective measures have been taken to such effect. The defendant, furthermore, has not argued that it is absolutely impossible to implement that Decision.
      
         (1)  Commission Decision 2005/239/EC of 14 July 2004 concerning certain aid measures applied by France to assist fish farmers and fishermen (OJ 2005 L 74, p. 49).