Italian Republic (C-15/98) and Sardegna Lines - Servizi Marittimi della Sardegna SpA (C-105/99) v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 2000-10-19
32 It is settled case-law that persons other than those to whom a decision is addressed may claim to be individually concerned only if the decision affects them by reason of certain attributes peculiar to them or by reason of circumstances in which they are differentiated from all other persons and if, by virtue of those factors, it distinguishes them individually in the same way as the person addressed (Case 25/62 Plaumann v Commission [1963] ECR 197, Case C-321/95 P Greenpeace Council and Others v Commission [1998] ECR I-1651, paragraphs 7 and 28).
33 The Court has thus held that an undertaking cannot, in principle, contest a Commission decision prohibiting a sectoral aid scheme if it is concerned by that decision solely by virtue of belonging to the sector in question and being a potential beneficiary of the scheme. Such a decision is, vis-à-vis the undertaking should it seek to contest the decision, a measure of general application covering situations which are determined objectively and entails legal effects for a class of persons envisaged in a general and abstract manner (Joined Cases 67/85, 68/85 and 70/85 Van der Kooy and Others v Commission [1988] ECR 219, paragraph 15; and Case C-6/92 Federmineraria and Others v Commission [1993] ECR I-6357, paragraph 14).
34 However, Sardegna Lines is in a different position. It is concerned by Decision 98/95 not only by virtue of being an undertaking in the shipping sector in Sardinia and a potential beneficiary of the aid scheme for Sardinian shipowners but also by virtue of being an actual beneficiary of individual aid granted under that scheme, the recovery of which has been ordered by the Commission.
35 It follows that Sardegna Lines is individually concerned by Decision 98/95.
36 Furthermore, in so far as Article 2 of Decision 98/95 obliges the Italian Republic to recover from each beneficiary of a loan/lease the element of aid contained therein, Sardegna Lines must be regarded as directly concerned by this decision.
51 The Court observes, first, that, in the case of an aid scheme, the Commission may confine itself to examining the general characteristics of the scheme in question without being required to examine each particular case in which it applies (see, to that effect, Case 248/84 Germany v Commission [1987] ECR 4013, at paragraph 18; and Case C-75/97 Belgium v Commission [1999] ECR I-3671, paragraph 48). That power is not impaired by the fact that the aid scheme in question has ceased to apply. In that case as well, the Commission must be entitled to assess the compatibility of the scheme with Community law on the basis of its general characteristics.
52 Secondly, contrary to the allegations of the Italian Republic, the Commission did not alter the subject-matter of the procedure which was throughout concerned with the aid scheme for Sardinian shipowners established by Law No 20/1951, as amended by Law No 11/1988. Thus, the Commission states in Part VII of Decision 98/95 that, the aid scheme in question is unlawful and incompatible with the common market and it is in light of that finding that the operative part of the decision must be read (see, to that effect, Case C-404/97 Commission v Portugal [2000] ECR I-4897, paragraph 41).
65 Furthermore, it is settled case-law that the statement of reasons required by Article 190 of the EC Treaty (now Article 253 EC) must be appropriate to the measure at issue and must disclose in a clear and unequivocal fashion the reasoning followed by the institution which adopted the measure in question in such a way as to enable the persons concerned to ascertain the reasons for the measure and to enable the competent Community Court to exercise its power of review. The requirement to state reasons must be evaluated according to the circumstances of each case, in particular the content of the measure in question, the nature of the reasons given and the interest which the addressees of the measure, or other parties to whom it is of direct and individual concern, may have in obtaining explanations. It is not necessary for the reasoning to go into all the relevant facts and points of law, since the question whether the statement of reasons meets the requirements of Article 190 of the Treaty must be assessed with regard not only to its wording but also to its context and to all the legal rules governing the matter in question (see, in particular, Case C-367/95 P Commission v Sytraval and Brink's France [1998] ECR I-1719, paragraph 63).
66 As regards more particularly a decision concerning State aid, the Court has held that although in certain cases the very circumstances in which the aid has been granted may show that it is liable to affect trade between Member States and to distort or threaten to distort competition, the Commission must at least set out those circumstances in the statement of reasons for its decision (Joined Cases 296/82 and 318/82 Netherlands and Leeuwarder Papierwarenfabriek v Commission [1985] ECR 809, at paragraph 24; and Joined Cases C-329/93, C-62/95 and C-63/95 Germany and Others v Commission [1996] ECR I-5151, at paragraph 52).
67 In the present case, as the Italian Republic has pointed out, Decision 98/95 does not contain any reasons explaining why the aid to Sardinian shipowners adversely affected competition. The mere statement that the aid is selective and restricted to the shipping sector in Sardinia is not a statement of reasons. Moreover, those aspects of the decision are connected less with the condition relating to the distortion of competition than to the condition of specificity which constitutes one of the other characteristics of the concept of State aid (see Belgium v Commission, cited above, at paragraph 26).