CELEX: C1998/340/31
Language: en
Date: 1998-11-07 00:00:00
Title: JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE of 15 September 1998 in Case T-95/96: Gestevisión Telecinco SA v. Commission of the European Communities (State aid - Public service television - Complaint - Action for declaration of failure to act - Commission's duty to investigate - Time-limit - Procedure under Article 93(2) - Serious difficulties)

7.11.98               EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                 C 340/17
  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE                           JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
                    of 15 September 1998                                              of 16 September 1998
                                                                  in Case T-188/95: Waterleiding Maatschappij Noord-
in Case T-140/95: Ryanair Limited v. Commission of the            West Brabant' NV v. Commission of the European
                 European Communities (1)                                                Communities (1)
(State aid Ð Formal investigation procedure under                 (State aids Ð Tax exemptions Ð Refusal to open the
Article 93(2) of the Treaty Ð Conditional decision                procedure laid down by Article 93(2) of the Treaty Ð
approving aid in the form of a capital injection to be            Meaning of person concerned Ð Confirmatory act Ð
carried out in tranches Ð Precondition of payment of the                                  Inadmissibility)
second tranche not satisfied Ð Subsequent decision
                                                                                           (98/C 340/30)
authorising payment of the second tranche Ð Action for
                         annulment)
                                                                                 (Language of the case: Dutch)
                        (98/C 340/29)
                                                                  In Case T-188/95: Waterleiding Maatschappij Noord-
                                                                  West Brabant' NV, with its registered office at
                                                                  Oudenbosch (Netherlands), represented by P. H. L. M.
               (Language of the case: English)                    Kuypers of the Breda Bar and H. M. Gilliams of the
                                                                  Brussels Bar, with an address for service in Luxembourg at
                                                                  the Chambers of J.-M. Bauler, 47 Grand-rue, against
                                                                  Commission of the European Communities (Agent: H. van
In Case T-140/95: Ryanair Limited, established in Dublin,         Vliet), supported by Kingdom of the Netherlands (Agents:
represented by Trevor Soames and Alan Ryan, Solicitors,           M. Fierstra and J. S. van den Oosterkamp) Ð application
with an address for service in Luxembourg at the                  for the annulment of the Commission's Decision SG(95)
Chambers of Arendt and Medernach, 8Ð10 rue Mathias                D/8442 of 3 July 1995 concerning Aid No NN 13/95 Ð
Hardt, against Commission of the European Communities             Netherlands Ð Wet belastingen op milieugrondslag Ð the
(Agents: Nicholas Khan and Anders Christian Jessen),              Court of First Instance (Fourth Chamber, Extended
supported by Ireland (Agents: Michael Buckley and Joseph          Composition), composed of: P. Lindh, President, R.
Finnegan) and by Aer Lingus Group plc, established in             García-Valdecasas, K. Lenaerts, J. D. Cooke and M.
Dublin, represented by Paul Gallagher SC, of the Irish Bar,       Jaeger, Judges; A. Mair, Administrator, for the Registrar,
and by James O'Dwyer and Patrick McGovern, Solicitors,            has given a judgment on 16 September 1998, in which it:
with an address for service in Luxembourg at the
Chambers of Maître ReneÂ Faltz, 6 rue Heine Ð
application for annulment of the Commission decision of           1. dismisses the application as inadmissible;
21 December (OJ C 399 of 31.12.1994, p. 1), authorising
the Irish Government to pay the second tranche of the aid         2. orders the applicant to bear its own costs and those
to the Aer Lingus group approved by Commission                        incurred by the Commission;
Decision 94/118/EC of 21 December 1993 concerning aid
to be provided by the Irish Government to the Aer Lingus
                                                                  3. orders the Kingdom of the Netherlands to bear its
group (OJ L 54 of 25.2.1994, p. 30) Ð the Court of First
                                                                      own costs.
Instance (Second Chamber, Extended Composition),
composed of: A. Kalogeropoulos, President, C. P. BrieÈt,
C. W. Bellamy, A. Potocki and J. Pirrung, Judges; A. Mair,        (1) OJ C 333 of 9.12.1995.
Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on
15 September 1998, in which it:
1. dismisses the application;                                       JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
                                                                                      of 15 September 1998
                                                                  in Case T-95/96: Gestevisión Telecinco SA v. Commission
2. orders the applicant to pay the costs incurred by the                        of the European Communities (1)
    Commission and Aer Lingus Group plc;
                                                                  (State aid Ð Public service television Ð Complaint Ð
                                                                  Action for declaration of failure to act Ð Commission's
                                                                  duty to investigate Ð Time-limit Ð Procedure under
                                                                              Article 93(2) Ð Serious difficulties)
3. orders Ireland to bear its own costs.
                                                                                           (98/C 340/31)
(1) OJ C 248 of 23.9.1995.                                                      (Language of the case: Spanish)
                                                                  In Case T-95/96: Gestevisión Telecinco SA, a company
                                                                  governed by Spanish law, established in Madrid (Spain),
 ---pagebreak--- C 340/18              EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                   7.11.98
represented by Santiago MunÄoz Machado, of the Madrid               Ente Partecipazioni e Finanziamento Industria Manifattu-
Bar, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the               riera (EFIM), established in Rome, represented by Antonio
Chambers of Carlos Amo QuinÄones, 2 Rue Gabriel                     Tizzano and Gian Michele Roberti, of the Naples Bar, 36
Lippmann, v. Commission of the European Communities                 Place du Grand Sablon, Brussels, against Commission of
(Agents: initially GeÂrard Rozet, and Fernando Castillo de          the European Communities (Agents: initially Paul Nemitz,
la Torre, and then Mr Rozet and Juan Guerra FernaÂndez,             Lucio Gussetti and Enrico Altieri, subsequently Paul
supported by the French Republic (Agents: Catherine de              Nemitz and Paolo Stancanelli), supported by French
Salins, and Gauthier Mignot), Ð application for a                   Republic (Agents: Catherine de Salins, Kareen Rispal-
declaration under Article 175 of the EC Treaty that the             Bellanger, Jean-Marc Belorgey, FreÂdeÂrik Million and
Commission failed to fulfil its obligations under the               Gautier Mignot) and Manoir Industries SA, established in
Treaty, first, by failing to adopt a decision in relation to        Paris, represented by Bernard van de Walle de Ghelcke, of
the complaints made by the applicant against the                    the Brussels Bar, with an address for service in
Kingdom of Spain for breach of Article 92 of the Treaty             Luxembourg at the Chambers of Freddy Brausch, 11 rue
and secondly by failing to initiate the procedure provided          Goethe, Ð application for annulment of Commission
for under Article 93(2) of the Treaty, alternatively, for           Decision 96/614/EC of 29 May 1996 concerning certain
annulment under Article 173 of the Treaty of the                    measures granted by Italy in favour of Breda Fucine
Commission's decision allegedly contained in a letter of            Meridionali SpA (OJ L 272 of 25.10.1996, p. 46),
20 February 1996, Ð the Court of First Instance (Third              declaring the State aid granted by the Italian Government
Chamber, Extended Composition), composed of: V. Tiili,              to Breda Fucine Meridionali SpA incompatible with the
President, C. P. BrieÈt, K. Lenaerts, A. Potocki and J. D.          common market and illegal, Ð the Court of First Instance
Cooke, Judges; H. Jung, Registrar, has given a judgment             (Third Chamber, Extended Composition), composed of: V.
on 15 September 1998, in which it:                                  Tiili, President; C. P. BrieÈt, K. Lenaerts, A. Potocki and
                                                                    J. D. Cooke, Judges; J. Palacio GonzaÂlez, Administrator,
                                                                    for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 15 September
1. declares that the Commission failed to fulfil its                1998, in which it:
     obligations under the EC Treaty by failing to adopt a
     decision following the two complaints lodged by the
                                                                    1. dismisses the applications;
     applicant on 2 March 1992 and 12 November 1993;
                                                                    2. orders the applicants to pay jointly and severally the
2. orders the Commission to pay the applicant's costs                    costs incurred by the Commission and by Manoir
     other than those incurred as a result of the                        industries SA;
     intervention by the French Republic;
                                                                    3. orders the French Republic to pay its own costs.
3. orders the French Republic to bear its own costs
                                                                    (1) OJ C 318, 26.10.1996.
     together with the costs incurred by the applicant by
     reason of its intervention.
(1) OJ C 247 of 24.8.1996.
                                                                      JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
                                                                                        of 15 September 1998
                                                                    in Joined Cases T-180/96 and T-181/96: Mediocurso,
                                                                    Estabelecimento de Ensino Particular, Limitada, against
  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE                                 the Commission of the European Communities (1)
                     of 15 September 1998                           (European Social Fund Ð Approval decision Ð Reduction
in Joined Cases T-126/96 and T-127/96: Breda Fucine                 of financial assistance Ð Prior hearing of beneficiary Ð
Meridionali SpA (BFM) and Ente Partecipazioni e Finan-              Consultation of the Member State Ð Protection of
ziamento Industria Manifatturiera (EFIM) v. Commission              legitimate expectations Ð Legal certainty Ð Statement of
               of the European Communities (1)                                reasons Ð Manifest error of assessment)
(State aid Ð Article 93(2) of the EC Treaty Ð Notice of                                     (98/C 340/33)
initiation of procedure Ð Aid not explicitly mentioned Ð
Aid to companies located in disadvantaged regions Ð                               (Language of the case: Portuguese)
   Restructuring Ð Recovery of aid Ð Limitation period)
                         (98/C 340/32)                              In Joined Cases T-180/96 and T-181/96, Mediocurso, Esta-
                                                                    belecimento de Ensino Particular, Limitada, established in
                                                                    Lisbon, represented by Carlos Botelho Moniz and Paulo
                (Language of the case: Italian)                     Moura Pinheiro, of the Lisbon Bar, with an address for
                                                                    service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Aloyse May,
                                                                    31, Grand-rue, against Commission of the European
In Joined Cases T-126/96 and T-127/96, Breda Fucine                 Communities (Agents: Maria Teresa Figueira and Knut
Meridionali SpA (BFM), established in Bari (Italy), and             Simonsson) Ð application for the annulment of