natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
For at rette op på dette underskud i tide og forhindre indledning af insolvensbehandlingen, jf. § 64 i den tyske lov om selskaber med begrænset ansvar GmbHG (tidligere udgave) sammenholdt med § 19 i InsO, var det tvingende nødvendigt at gribe ind.
In order to remedy the deficit situation in time and avoid the opening of the insolvency proceedings in accordance with § 64 GmbHG a.F. i. V. m. § 19 InsO, immediate action was needed.
Tyskland understreger, at WAK som hovedkreditor med en ringere sikkerhed havde stor interesse i at forhindre den umiddelbart forestående insolvens.
Germany points out that, as principle creditor with a weaker security position, WAK had a considerable interest in avoiding the impending insolvency.
Fonden forsøgte derfor at få vinproducenterne og vinhandlerne til at gå med til at give afkald på en del af deres fordringer og aftalte derudover følgende med GfW den 4. december 2000:
It therefore tried to convince the winegrowing enterprises and merchants to waive part of their claims and also agreed to the following with GfW on 4 December 2000:
at efterstille krav svarende til underskuddet, når vinproducenterne og vinhandlerne havde indvilliget i at give afkald på 90 % af deres resterende fordringer
a subordination of claims of the same amount as the deficit after the winegrowing enterprises and merchants had agreed to waive 90 % of their remaining claims,
at give afkald på krav svarende til det efterstillede beløb, men kun hvis det skulle vise sig nødvendigt.
to, but only if necessary, waive the amount of claim they had agreed to subordinate.
På trods af en vellykket indledning af forhandlingerne med flertallet af vinproducenterne og vinhandlerne, der indvilligede i at give afkald på deres fordringer, lykkedes det i sidste ende ikke for GfW at få aftalen i hus, da en række vinproducenter og vinhandlere og deres advokater slog sig sammen mod GfW.
Despite a successful start to the negotiations with a majority of the winegrowing enterprises and merchants agreeing to waive their claims, GfW eventually failed due to concerted actions by some of the winegrowing enterprises and merchants and their lawyers.
De var ikke villige til at give afkald på deres fordringer, da deres fordringer var privilegerede som følge af deres udvidede eller forlængede ejendomsforbehold, og de indgav klager.
They were not willing to waive their claims because of their preferential security position as a result of their extended or prolonged retention of title and filled complaints.
Disse klager blev behandlet af retten, der stillede forslag til forligsaftaler.
These complaints were treated by the court who proposed settlement agreements.
Andre retter foreslog lignende forligsaftaler.
Similar settlement agreements were proposed by other courts.
I lyset heraf havde GfW ikke længere noget grundlag for at forvente, at vinproducenterne og vinhandlerne ville gå med til at give afkald på 90 % af deres resterende fordringer.
With this in mind, it was no longer possible for GfW to expect that the winegrowing enterprises and merchants would agree to waiving 90 % of their remaining claims.
Det forhold, at 1700 af de 2700 vinproducenter og vinhandlere allerede havde erklæret sig indforstået med at give afkald på en del af deres fordringer, var ikke længere relevant, idet der i henhold til § 305a i den tyske lov om insolvens ikke kan ske en udenretlig tvistbilæggelse (außergerichtliche Einigung) for at undgå en insolvensbehandling, hvis blot én enkelt kreditor beslutter at lade tvangsfuldbyrdelsen udføre efter indledningen af forhandlingerne om den udenretlige tvistbilæggelse.
The fact that 1700 out of 2700 winegrowing enterprises and merchants had already indicated that they would be willing to waive a share of their claims was no longer of relevance as § 305a of the German insolvency law states that an out of court settlement (außergerichtliche Einigung) to avoid insolvency proceedings fails when one single creditor decides to proceed to enforcement after the out of court settlement negotiations have started.
Den 21. februar 2001 aftalte WAK derfor med GfW, at WAK ville inddække underskuddet for 2000 ved at give afkald på en del af sine krav til et beløb af 5005441,60 EUR, at der ikke ville blive opkrævet renter af den resterende gæld i perioden fra den 1. januar 2001 til den 31. december 2001, og at vinproducenternes og vinhandlernes fordringer ville blive indfriet fuldt ud.
On 21 February 2001 WAK therefore agreed with GfW to cover the deficit of year 2000 by waiving EUR 5005441,60 of its claims, that no interest would be charged on the remaining debt for the time period of 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2001 and that the claims of the winegrowing enterprises and merchants would be settled in full.
Sikkerheden af de ikkeefterstillede krav blev garanteret.
The security of the non-subordinated claims was guaranteed.
GfW's underskud blev inddækket, insolvensbehandlingen blev afværget, og GfW kunne fortsætte driften.
GfW’s deficit situation was remedied, insolvency proceedings were avoided and GfW could continue trading.
En privat kreditor vil forsøge at mindske sine tab. Hvis en fordring ikke var tilstrækkelig sikret, ville en aftale om at udsætte tilbagebetalingen øge mulighederne for tilbagebetaling uden tab, da skyldneren ville få mulighed for at overvinde krisen og rette op på sin økonomiske situation [12].
In case a claim was not sufficiently secured, agreement to postpone the repayment would increase the chances of repayment without losses as the debtor would have the chance to overcome the crisis and improve its situation [12].
I Rettens HAMSA-dom undsiger Retten Kommissionens tidligere praksis med at kræve, at private og offentlige kreditorer giver afkald på en ligelig del af fordringerne i forhold til deres andel af gælden.
In the HAMSA judgment of the CFI, the court rejects the Commissions previous practice of requiring equal share of waivers of claims for private and public creditors in relation to their share of the debt.
Retten fastslog derimod, at de kriterier, der gælder for private kreditorer, også finder anvendelse i forbindelse med gældseftergivelse, når forholdet mellem de forskellige kreditorer er asymmetrisk.
Instead the court established that the private creditor test can be applied also when the waivers relationship between the different creditors is asymmetric.
Retten understreger, at det er afgørende, om kravet er pantesikret, privilegeret eller simpelt, dvs. hvilken rangorden de forskellige kreditorers fordringer har.
The CFI emphasises that the creditor’s status as the holder of a secured, preferential or ordinary claim, i.e. the rank of the securities of the different creditors, is decisive.
Retten fastslog, at en offentlig kreditor handler som en privat kreditor, når den offentlige kreditor beslutter at give delvis afkald på tilbagesøgningen på baggrund af en grundig og rimelig vurdering af, hvor stort et beløb, der vil kunne tilbagesøges, risikoen for afvikling og mulighederne for genopretning af virksomheden [13].
The CFI established that a public creditor acts like a private creditor when he decides to waive a share of his claims, after extensive and reasonable evaluation of how much he might be able to recover, of the risk of liquidation and of the chance of the firm being restored to viability [13].
Endelig henviser Tyskland til Kommissionens beslutning i Huta Cynku-sagen, hvor Kommissionen besluttede, at der ikke kan være tale om nogen fordel og derfor ikke om statsstøtte, hvis omstruktureringen giver et mere indbringende resultat end likvidationen [14].
Lastly, Germany refers to the Commission’s decision in the Huta Cynku case, where the Commission decided that no advantage and thus no State aid exists where restructuring would yield better proceeds than liquidation [14].
På denne baggrund gør Tyskland gældende, at både efterstillingen og afkaldet på krav — henset til WAK's position som hovedkreditor og fondens ringere sikkerhed i forhold til vinproducenterne og vinhandlerne — var i overensstemmelse med de kriterier, der gælder for private kreditorer, og dermed ikke udgør statsstøtte.
On these grounds Germany argues that taking into consideration WAK’s position as the main creditor and its weaker security position compared to the winegrowing enterprises and merchants, both the subordination as well as the waiver of claim was in accordance with the private creditor test and do not constitute State aid.
WAK ville have tabt mindst det samme og sandsynligvis et betydeligt større beløb af fondens resterende fordringer i tilfælde af en insolvensbehandling.
In an insolvency procedure WAK would have lost at least the same and most probably a significantly larger amount of their remaining claim.
WAK ville kun få fuld sikkerhed i det resterende lager og kunne sikre en større tilbagebetaling af fondens resterende fordringer end ved en insolvensbehandling ved at forhindre GfW's insolvens og indfri vinproducenternes og vinhandlernes resterende fordringer.
Only through avoiding the insolvency of GfW and settling the winegrowing enterprises and merchants remaining claims did WAK have full security rights to the remaining stock and could secure a higher repayment on its remaining claims than what would be realised in case of insolvency.
Ud fra en forhåndsbetragtning var WAK's adfærd ifølge Tyskland korrekt, navnlig da det lykkedes fonden at sikre en større tilbagebetaling ved at konvertere fondens begrænsede sikkerhed til en primær sikkerhedsret og forhindre GfW's umiddelbart forestående insolvens.
From an ex-ante perspective, the behaviour of WAK was, according to Germany, correct, especially as they managed to secure a higher repayment by having converted their weak security position into a primary security right and avoided the impending insolvency of GfW.
Ifølge Tyskland ville enhver privat bank have handlet på samme måde i den samme situation.
According to Germany, any private bank would have acted in the same way in the same situation.
Ifølge de tyske myndigheder ville en forhåndsevaluering af GfW's regnskaber have vist, at WAK ved en videreførelse af GfW ville kunne få tilbagebetalt 5112918,81 EUR. Hvis der derimod var blevet indledt en insolvensbehandling mod GfW, ville WAK kun kunne få tilbagebetalt højst 2,4 mio. EUR. Forskellen er således mindst 2,7 mio. EUR.
According to the German authorities, an ex-ante evaluation of GfW accounts would have estimated that by a continuation of GfW, WAK would have been able to realise repayments of EUR 5112918,81 million. On the other hand, if GfW had entered into insolvency proceedings, WAK would only have been able to realise a repayment of maximum EUR 2,4 million. This leaves a difference of minimum EUR 2,7 million.
Dette bekræftes i en rapport af 3. februar 2003, som er udarbejdet af en uafhængig revisor [15] på foranledning af WAK og forelagt af de tyske myndigheder.
This is confirmed by a report from 3 February 2003, prepared by an independent auditor [15], commissioned by WAK and submitted by the German authorities.
Det konkluderes i rapporten, at det var økonomisk rentabelt for WAK at efterstille fondens krav, at give afkald på en del af fondens krav svarende til ovennævnte beløb og at give afkald på fremtidige rentebetalinger.
The report comes to the conclusion that it made economic sense for WAK to subordinate their claims, waive part of their claims to the abovementioned amount and to waive the future interest payments.
Tyskland anførte følgende grunde til denne konklusion:
The reasons for this conclusion were submitted by Germany and are as follows:
Hvis WAK ikke havde efterstillet og givet afkald på fondens krav og rentebetalingerne, ville GfW være nødsaget til at indgive en insolvensbegæring, og GfW var blevet opløst.
If WAK had not subordinated and waived its claims and interest payments GfW would have had to apply for insolvency and GfW would have been wound up.
WAK's fordringer skulle i så fald indfries ved salg af GfW's lagre.
WAK’s claims would have had to be met from the sale of GfW’s stocks.
Hvis selskabet var blevet opløst, ville værdien af GfW's lagre være faldet.
If the company had been wound up the value of GfW’s stocks would have fallen.
Provenuet af salget af lagrene ville kun have udgjort ca. 50-70 % af den bogførte værdi.
The actual proceeds from the sale of the stocks would have been only about 50 % to 70 % of the book value.
Under hensyntagen til sikkerhedsrettighederne ville provenuet således have udgjort mellem 1,84 mio. EUR og 2,4 mio. EUR.
Therefore, allowing for security rights, the proceeds would have amounted to between EUR 1,84 million and EUR 2,4 million.
Insolvensbehandlinger er dyre.
Insolvency proceedings are costly.
I henhold til den tyske lov om insolvens (InsO) er produkter behæftet med ejendomsforbehold omfattet af udtagelsesretten, men kurator kan vælge mellem opfyldelse af kontrakten og udtagelse af aktiver (§ 103 i InsO).
The German Insolvency Law (‘InsO’) provides for a right to separation for products with retention of title; however, this is determined on the basis of the insolvency administrator’s option to choose between performance of the contract and separation of assets (paragraph 103 InsO).
Udtagelse af aktiver er kun muligt, hvis kurator nægter at opfylde kontrakten. I så fald kan kreditor hæve kontrakten og kræve udtagelse af aktiverne og er berettiget til erstatning for manglende opfyldelse af kontrakten.
Separation of assets is possible only if the insolvency administrator refuses to perform the contract, in which case the creditor can withdraw from the contract and demand the separation of the assets, and is entitled to compensation for non-performance of the contract.
Forskud kan modregnes.
Down payments may be offset.
GfW har til gengæld krav på tilbagebetaling af allerede gennemførte betalinger, som kan modregnes i erstatningen for manglende opfyldelse af kontrakten.
In return, GfW can claim recovery of the payments already made, which may be offset against the compensation for non-performance of the contract.
Efter WAK's efterstilling af en del af fondens krav var det derimod juridisk muligt for GfW at undgå en insolvensbehandling, og efter WAK's afkald på en del af fondens krav og rentebetalingerne beløb WAK's udestående fordringer sig til 5,15 mio. EUR, som fonden kunne forvente at få tilbagebetalt, da GfW kunne fortsætte driften.
By contrast, after WAK subordinated part of its claims, it was legally possible for GfW to avoid insolvency proceedings and after waiving part of its claims and interest payments, WAK had outstanding claims of EUR 5,15 million which it could expect to recover as a result of the fact that GfW could continue trading.
Det understreges ligeledes, at hvis der var blevet indledt en insolvensbehandling, kunne GfW have gjort indsigelse mod tilbagebetalingerne på WAK's lån til GfW på 1440476,92 EUR i perioden fra den 1. november til den 31. december 2000 i henhold til insolvensreglerne.
It is also pointed out that if insolvency proceedings had been opened the repayments on the loan of EUR 1440476,92 made by GfW to WAK in the period 1 November to 31 December 2000 could have been contested by GfW under the insolvency rules.
WAK ville således have været nødsaget til at tilbagebetale disse midler.
This would have led to WAK being obliged to repay these funds.
Tyskland understreger, at en efterfølgende vurdering viser, at efterstillingen og afkaldet på krav var en mere økonomisk rentabel løsning, da fonden således fik tilbagebetalt 4670517,65 EUR ved at forhindre GfW's insolvens, hvilket var mere end de højst 2,4 mio. EUR, der var sikkerhed for ved en insolvensbehandling.
Germany emphasises that an ex-post evaluation shows that the subordination and waiver of claims option made more economic sense as the repayments received by avoiding the insolvency of GfW was EUR 4670517,65, making it superior to the maximum EUR 2,4 million which could have been secured under the insolvency proceedings.
Tyskland konkluderer, at efterstillingen og afkaldet på krav var i overensstemmelse med de kriterier, der gælder for private kreditorer, og at der ikke blev ydet statsstøtte til vinproducenterne og vinhandlerne i forbindelse med WAK's efterstilling og afkald på krav.
Germany concludes that as the subordination and waiver of claims was in accordance with the private creditor test, there was no aid to the winegrowing enterprises and merchants at the time of subordination and waiver of claims by WAK.
Fælles markedsordning
Common market organisation
Indtil Rådets forordning (EF) nr. 479/2008 af 29. april 2008 om den fælles markedsordning for vin [16] trådte i kraft, var vinavl og -fremstilling omfattet af forordning (EF) nr. 1493/1999.
Until the entry into force of Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 of 29 April 2008 on the common organisation of the market in wine [16], winegrowing and wine processing were covered by Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999.
I henhold til artikel 71 i forordning (EF) nr. 1493/1999 anvendes EF-traktatens artikel 87, 88 og 89 (nu artikel 107, 108 og 109 i TEUF) på produktion af og handel med de af forordningen omfattede produkter.
Article 71 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 states that Articles 87, 88 and 89 of the Treaty (now Articles 107, 108 and 109 of the TFEU) shall apply to the production of and trade in the products covered by it.
Før den 31. juli 2000 var vinavl og -fremstilling omfattet af forordning (EØF) nr. 822/87.
Before 31 July 2000, winegrowing and wine processing were covered by Regulation (EEC) No 822/87.
I henhold til artikel 76 i forordning (EØF) nr. 822/87 anvendes EF-traktatens artikel 92, 93 og 94 (nu artikel 107, 108 og 109 i TEUF) på produktion af og handel med de produkter, der er omfattet af forordningens artikel 1.
Article 76 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 states that Articles 92, 93 and 94 of the Treaty (now Articles 107, 108 and 109 of the TFEU) shall apply to the production of and trade in the products listed in Article 1 of the Regulation.
De her omhandlede foranstaltninger skal derfor undersøges på grundlag af statsstøttereglerne.
Therefore, the measures at hand have to be examined in the light of State aid rules.
Artikel 107, stk. 1, i TEUF forbyder statsstøtte eller støtte, som ydes ved hjælp af statsmidler under enhver tænkelig form, og som fordrejer eller truer med at fordreje konkurrencevilkårene ved at begunstige visse virksomheder eller visse produktioner, i det omfang den påvirker samhandelen mellem medlemsstaterne.
Pursuant to Article 107(1) of the TFEU, any aid granted by a Member State or through state resources in any form whatsoever which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favouring certain undertakings or the production of certain goods is prohibited, insofar as it affects trade between Member States.
WAK er en offentligretlig juridisk person og finansieres til dels af midler fra delstaten Rheinland-Pfalz og til dels gennem skattelignende indtægter.
WAK is a public-law corporation and is financed partly from funds of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate and partly from parafiscal charges.
Foranstaltningen finansieres således ved hjælp af statsmidler.
The measure is therefore financed from state resources.
Støtte til en virksomhed anses for at påvirke samhandelen mellem medlemsstaterne, når den pågældende virksomhed er aktiv på et marked, der er åbent for samhandel inden for EU [17].
Aid to an undertaking appears to affect trade between Member States where that undertaking operates in a market open to intra-Union trade [17].
Der foregår en omfattende samhandel med landbrugsprodukter i Unionen.
There is a substantial intra-Union trade in agricultural products.
Foranstaltningen kan derfor påvirke samhandelen mellem medlemsstaterne [18].
Therefore, the present aid is liable to affect trade between Member States [18].
Domstolen har udtalt, at det med henblik på at vurdere, hvorvidt en statslig foranstaltning skal anses for at være støtte i henhold til artikel 107, stk. 1, i TEUF, også må fastlægges, hvorvidt den virksomhed, foranstaltningen er rettet til, opnår en økonomisk fordel, som den ikke ville have opnået på sædvanlige markedsbetingelser [19], og/eller om foranstaltningen gjorde det muligt for virksomheden at undgå omkostninger, der normalt skulle have været afholdt af virksomhedens egen kapital [20].
The Court has ruled that in order to determine whether a state measure constitutes aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the TFEU, it is also necessary to establish whether the recipient undertaking receives an economic advantage which it would not have obtained under normal market conditions [19] and/or whether the measure enabled the undertaking to avoid having to bear costs which it would normally have had to meet out of its own financial resources [20].
Dette ville rent faktisk være tilstrækkeligt til at afgøre, om der er risiko for konkurrenceforvridning [21].
This would indeed be sufficient to indicate potential distortions of competition [21].
Støtte til Gesellschaft für Weinabsatz (GfW)
Existence of aid to the Gesellschaft für Weinabsatz (GfW)
Lånet fra WAK
The granting of loan by WAK
Der blev ikke opkrævet nogen risikopræmie.
No risk premium was charged.
I den pågældende periode lå Tysklands basisreferencesats på mellem 5,23 % og 6,33 %.
The reference rate for Germany for this period lay between 5,23 % and 6,33 %.
Tyskland er enig med Kommissionen i, at lånet ikke blev ydet på markedsvilkår.
Germany agrees with the Commission’s view that the granting of the loan was not done on market terms.
Var lånet blevet ydet på markedsvilkår, ville basisrenten have været højere, og der ville være blevet opkrævet en risikopræmie henset til den begrænsede sikkerhedsstillelse for lånet.
Had the loan been granted on market terms, a higher base rate would have been charged and a risk premium would have been added considering the limited security that the collateral for the loan offered.
Det kan konkluderes, at lånet til GfW indeholdt et statsstøtteelement i henhold til artikel 107, stk. 1, i TEUF, da GfW opnåede en økonomisk fordel, som selskabet ikke ville have opnået på sædvanlige markedsbetingelser.
It can be concluded that the loan granted to GfW contained a State aid element within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the TFEU as GfW received an economic advantage it would not have obtained under normal market conditions.
Dette støtteelement beregnes som forskellen mellem den anvendte rentesats og referencesatsen samt en passende risikopræmie.
The aid element is calculated as the difference between the interest charged and the reference rate plus an appropriate risk premium.
Eventuel overførsel af støtte til retssuccessorer
Possible passing on of aid to legal successors
Tyskland anfører, at det ifølge fast retspraksis [22] således ikke er muligt at tilbagesøge støtten.
In accordance with settled case-law [22] recovery is according to Germany therefore not possible.
Da de resterende aktiver i GfW blev solgt, kan køberen muligvis have draget fordel af støtten til GfW.
As the remaining assets of GfW were sold off, the person who purchased them could possibly have benefited from the aid granted to GfW.
Den pågældende køber betalte imidlertid den oprindelige købspris, og markedet faldt kraftigt de efterfølgende år, og køberen betalte således tydeligvis som minimum markedsprisen.
However, as the person paid the original purchase price and the market had slumped over the passed years, it is clear that the price paid by the purchaser was at least the market prices.
Kommissionen konkluderer derfor, at der ikke blev overført støtte til køberen af GfW's resterende lager.
Therefore, the Commission concludes that no aid was passed on to the purchaser of GfW’s remaining stock.
GfW blev samtidig opløst, og støtten kan derfor ikke tilbagesøges.
At the same time, GfW ceased to exist and therefore there is no aid to be recovered.
WAK's efterstilling af og afkald på krav
The subordination and waiver of claims by WAK
Efterstillingen af krav og afkaldet på krav og rentebetalinger blev finansieret med WAK's egne midler og et tilsvarende lån optaget af WAK og kan derfor betragtes som statsfinansieret.
The subordination of claims and the waiver of claims and interest payments were financed by WAK’s own resources and a corresponding loan taken out by WAK and are therefore to be considered to be financed through State resources.