Mediaset SpA v Ministero dello Sviluppo economico.
Date: 2014-02-13
19. In that regard, it must be borne in mind that the implementation of that system of control is a matter for both the Commission and the national courts, their respective roles being complementary but separate (see Case C-284/12 Deutsche Lufthansa  [2013] ECR, paragraph 27 and the case-law cited).
20. Under that system, assessment of the compatibility of aid measures with the internal market falls within the exclusive competence of the Commission, subject to review by the Courts of the European Union (see, to that effect, Joined Cases C-261/01 and C-262/01 van Calster and Others  [2003] ECR I-12249, paragraph 75; Case C-368/04 Transalpine Ölleitung in Österreich  [2006] ECR I-9957, paragraph 38; and Deutsche Lufthansa , paragraph 28).
21. In accordance with settled case-law, no provision of European Union law requires the Commission, when it orders restitution of aid declared incompatible with the internal market, to fix the precise amount of the aid to be repaid. It is sufficient for the Commission’s decision to include information enabling the recipient to work out himself, without overmuch difficulty, that amount (see, to that effect, Case C‑480/98 Spain  v Commission  [2000] ECR I-8717, paragraph 25; Mediaset  v Commission , paragraph 126; and Case C-81/10 P France Télécom  v Commission  [2011] ECR I-12899, paragraph 102).
22. The Commission, when it is faced with an aid scheme, is generally not in a position to identify exactly the amount of aid received by individual recipients. Accordingly, the specific circumstances of one of the recipients of an aid scheme can be assessed only at the stage of recovery of the aid (see, to that effect, Case C‑310/99 Italy  v Commission  [2002] ECR I-2289, paragraphs 89 to 91).
23. In addition, it must be noted that, pursuant to the fourth paragraph of Article 288 TFEU, decisions are binding in their entirety upon those to whom they are addressed. Consequently, the Member State to which a decision requiring recovery of unlawful aid incompatible with the internal market is addressed is obliged under that article to take all measures necessary to ensure implementation of that decision (see, to that effect, Case C‑209/00 Commission  v Germany [2002] ECR I‑11695, paragraph 31, and Case C‑404/00 Commission  v Spain  [2003] ECR I‑6695, paragraph 21). Those decisions are binding on all the organs of the State to which they are addressed, including the courts of that State (see, to that effect, Case 249/85 Albako Margarinefabrik  [1987] ECR 2345, paragraph 17).
29. That being so, it must be borne in mind that application of the European Union competition rules is based on an obligation of cooperation in good faith between the national courts, on the one hand, and the Commission and the European Union Courts, on the other, in the context of which each acts on the basis of the role assigned to it by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In the context of that cooperation, national courts must take all the necessary measures, whether general or specific, to ensure fulfilment of the obligations under European Union law and refrain from those which may jeopardise the attainment of the objectives of the Treaty, as follows from Article 4(3) TEU (see Deutsche Lufthansa , paragraph 41).
30. Thus, where the national court entertains doubts or has difficulties as regards the quantification of the amount of aid to be recovered, it remains open to it to contact the Commission for assistance in accordance with the principle of cooperation in good faith, as is apparent in particular from paragraphs 89 to 96 of the Commission notice on the enforcement of State aid law by national courts (OJ 2009 C 85, p. 1).
34. It must be borne in mind that, in accordance with settled case-law, in the absence of pertinent provisions of European Union law, the recovery of aid which has been declared incompatible with the internal market is to be carried out in accordance with the rules and procedures laid down by national law, in so far as those rules and procedures do not have the effect of making the recovery required by European Union law practically impossible and do not undermine the principle of equivalence with procedures for deciding similar but purely national disputes (see Case C‑382/99 Netherlands  v Commission  [2002] ECR I‑5163, paragraph 90). Disputes arising in connection with the enforcement of recovery are a matter for the national court alone (see, to that effect, the order in Case C‑297/01 Sicilcassa and Others  [2003] ECR I‑7849, paragraphs 41 and 42).