CELEX: 62018TN0238
Language: en
Date: 2018-04-12 00:00:00
Title: Case T-238/18: Action brought on 12 April 2018 — Netflix International and Netflix v Commission

201806150661955242018/C 231/352382018TC23120180702EN01ENINFO_JUDICIAL20180412282921Case T-238/18: Action brought on 12 April 2018 — Netflix International and Netflix v Commission
 ---documentbreak--- C2312018EN2810120180412EN0035281292Action brought on 12 April 2018 — Netflix International and Netflix v Commission
   (Case T-238/18)2018/C 231/35Language of the case: English
      Parties
   
   
      Applicants: Netflix International BV (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Netflix, Inc. (Los Gatos, California, United States) (represented by: E. Batchelor, Solicitor, N. Niejahr, B. Hoorelbeke and A. Patsa, lawyers)
   
      Defendants: European Commission
   
      Form of order sought
   
   The applicants claim that the Court should:
   
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            annul the Commission Decision of 8 November 2017 on State aid SA.48950 (2017/N) on the prolongation of the aid scheme for the digitisation of cinematographic heritage works notified by France;
         
      
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            annul the Commission Decision of 20 November 2017 on State aid SA.48907 (2017/N) on the prolongation of the automatic aid scheme for audiovisual work (fiction and creative documentaries) notified by France;
         
      
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            annul the Commission Decision of 20 November 2017 on State aid SA.48699 (2017/N) on the prolongation of the automatic aid scheme for the production and preparation of cinematographic work notified by France; and
         
      
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            order the Commission to bear its own costs and Netflix's costs in connection with these proceedings.
         
      
      Pleas in law and main arguments
   
   In support of the action, the applicants rely on a single plea in law.
   The applicants submit that the Commission violated Article 108(3) TFEU by not opening the formal investigation procedure provided for in Article 108(2) TFEU when examining the State aid schemes notified by France which are the subject of the contested decisions. The Commission was required to open the formal investigation procedure for each of the three State aid schemes on account of the serious difficulties it encountered in assessing each of them for compatibility with the internal market. By failing to open the formal investigation procedure, the Commission infringed the procedural rights of the applicants under Article 108(2) TFEU.
   The applicants submit that the existence of serious difficulties is supported by:
   
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            the circumstances and the length of the preliminary examination procedures that led to the adoption of the contested decisions; and
         
      
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            the content of the contested decisions, in particular as this relates to the State aid schemes' financing mechanisms and the State aid schemes' compatibility with EU law other than the State aid provisions.