natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Brevets konklusion om, at der »på det tidspunkt« ikke var planer om yderligere foranstaltninger, hang klart sammen med offentliggørelsen for nylig af en erklæring om, at SLB kunne benyttes til erhvervelse af skibe fremstillet i andre europæiske lande, hvilket var et direkte svar på Sylvia Brustads bekymring.
The Commission observes that Spain failed to notify the STL to the Commission and that the statement made in its 2001 Decision concerned a different scheme — the predecessor scheme of the one assessed in the GIE Fiscaux Decision — and made an explicit reference to the legal system of another Member State.
Under alle omstændigheder blev der i brevet end ikke nævnt og langt mindre taget stilling til tilstedeværelsen af statsstøtte i forbindelse med ØIG eller dens investorer.
As a consequence, the Commission considers that this statement does not constitute exceptional circumstances and is not sufficient to justify the acknowledgement of legitimate expectations in favour of Spain and third-party operators involved in STL operations.
Med hensyn til rederier, skibsværfter og formidlere finder Kommissionen ikke, at de er modtagere af støtten, hvilket vil sige, at spørgsmålet om berettigede forventninger ikke opstår.
This conclusion is consistent with the approach adopted in the 2006 Commission Decision concerning the GIE Fiscaux where the Commission did not identify any element demonstrating the existence of legitimate expectations [118].
Kommissionen mener derfor ikke, at brevet under nogen omstændigheder gav præcise, ubetingede og samstemmende forsikringer, der kan skabe berettigede forventninger om, at ordningen ikke indeholdt statsstøtte til gavn for ØIG eller dens investorer.
The publication of draft measures in the Official Gazette of a Member State’s Parliament does not meet the requirement of formal notification and stand-still imposed by this provision of the Treaty.
Da Kommissionen ikke fandt, at brevet kunne skabe berettigede forventninger, er spørgsmålet om, hvorvidt sådanne berettigede forventninger ville dække perioden før brevet, ikke på nogen måde relevant.
The Commission notes that the early depreciation measure was implemented 21 months after the publication of Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 without prior notification and at the same time as the TT scheme, which was properly notified to — and authorised by — the Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty and the abovementioned Regulation.
En erhvervsdrivende, der udviser fornøden omhu, kunne ikke have forudset, at den samlede anvendelse af flere foranstaltninger muligvis udgjorde statsstøtte
The 2001 request for information about a tax leasing scheme
Da de enkelte foranstaltninger udgør statsstøtte (med undtagelse af den fremskyndede afskrivning af leasede aktiver), er det irrelevant, at erhvervsdrivende ikke kunne forudse, at kombinationen heraf også kunne betragtes som statsstøtte, og det begrunder ikke de berettigede forventninger eller et brud på eventuelt andre grundlæggende EU-retlige principper.
The Commission considers that this letter is not liable to have created any justified hopes concerning the STL or the individual measures involved in STL operations.
Derimod har flere tredjeparter blandt de erhvervsdrivende, som var involveret i SLB-transaktioner, hævdet, at 2006-beslutningen i den franske GIE Fiscaux-sag havde givet dem berettigede forventninger, fordi foranstaltningen var meget lig SLB.
In accordance with Article 10(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 659/1999, the Commission analysed the information it had in its possession regarding alleged unlawful aid and, on 21 December 2001, requested information from the Member State.
Den kendsgerning, at alle træk ved den franske foranstaltning var samlet i én lovbestemmelse, indebærer nødvendigvis en samlet vurdering.
In the first place, the Commission notes that a request for information is not a public document.
I den forbindelse bør det forhold, at de forskellige elementer i SLB blev medtaget i forskellige foranstaltninger — og de facto knyttet sammen og brugt sammen — for at skabe de samme virkninger, ikke sikre en anden tilgang og udelukker ikke en samlet vurdering.
Second, contrary to what PYMAR claims, this request shows that the Commission did not have the necessary information to identify and assess the alleged unlawful aid.
Under alle omstændigheder mener Kommissionen, at både den indledende afskrivning af leasede aktiver og skattefritagelsen — jf. artikel 50, stk. 3, i RIS — for kapitalgevinster, som høstes under TS, udgør statsstøtte i hvert enkelt tilfælde.
As such, even if it had been made public, it could not have created any legitimate expectation that the scheme did not constitute aid.
Når der ikke foreligger en anmeldelse af disse bestemmelser, kunne erhvervsdrivende ikke have berettigede forventninger om, at de handlede lovligt under særlige omstændigheder, som ikke er blevet påvist.
Third, and most importantly, by letters of 28 January 2002 and 28 May 2002 the Spanish authorities categorically denied that any tax measure was available in support of the acquisition of ships for contracts signed after 31 December 2000.
Erklæringerne om afskrivningsmetoder i Kommissionens meddelelse om direkte beskatning af virksomheder [126]
The 2004 Decision concerning the Dutch notification [119]
Kommissionen bemærker, at meddelelsens ordlyd ikke gav erhvervsdrivende nogen grund til at nære berettigede forventninger om, at SLB var lovlig.
The Commission considers that the 2004 Decision could not have created justified hopes in respect of the STL or the individual measures involved in STL operations for the following reasons:
For det første omhandler de påberåbte bestemmelser kun afskrivningsmetoder, således at eventuelt berettigede forventninger kun kunne dække den indledende afskrivning af leasede aktiver.
First, the subject of the Commission investigation in this case was not a Spanish measure but a scheme notified by the Dutch Government intended to compensate Dutch shipyards or allow them to match offers made in 2000 [120] by Spanish shipyards which allegedly benefited from State aid granted by Spain with respect to six specific shipbuilding contracts.
For det andet kan meddelelsen ikke fortolkes på en sådan måde, at en foranstaltning vedrørende afskrivning falder uden for statsstøttereglernes anvendelsesområde.
Consequently, the purpose of the 2004 Commission Decision was to provide an assessment of the aid notified by the Netherlands and not of any aid allegedly awarded by Spain.
Det fastsættes nemlig i meddelelsens betragtning 13, at regler for afskrivning og regler for overførsel af tab ikke udgør statsstøtte, under forudsætning af at foranstaltningerne anvendes på samme måde over for samtlige virksomheder og produktioner.
Second, the Spanish measure that the Netherlands intended to match was neither the STL nor any of its components.
SLB finder ikke anvendelse på alle virksomheder og alle produktioner.
As mentioned in the 2003 Decision to open the formal proceedings in that case, the Dutch authorities clearly invoked aid in the form of interest subsidies on credits allegedly awarded to shipowners under Spanish Royal Decree 442/94 [121].
Endvidere præciseres det i betragtning 22 i samme meddelelse, at skatteforvaltningens skønsbeføjelser og den manøvremargen, der kan være forbundet hermed, dog giver anledning til en formodning om, at der er statsstøtte involveret.
Moreover, the Commission notes that both the early depreciation of leased assets and the Spanish TT scheme only entered into force on 1 January 2002.
Som forklaret i afsnit 2.2.2 ovenfor er anvendelsen af indledende afskrivning omfattet af betingelser — som kræver fortolkning — og skatteforvaltningens forudgående godkendelse.
A draft of those measures was only published in the Official Gazette of the Spanish Parliament on 10 October 2001.
Før forvaltningen giver sin godkendelse, kan den forlange supplerende dokumenter fra ansøgeren eller oplysninger fra andre forvaltninger.
Therefore, they could not have been used to finance shipbuilding contracts in 2000.
Det forhold, at der forelå supplerende dokumenter i alle de ansøgningsdossierer, der var tilgængelige for Kommissionen, tyder på, at forvaltningen — eksplicit eller implicit — havde anmodet herom, eller at ansøgerne vidste, at de var nødvendige for at opnå en godkendelse.
Third, even if the operators had imagined that the Spanish measure that was intended to be matched was the STL — which is not the case — the statements made in the 2004 Decision could not create any legitimate expectations.
Som følge heraf havde forvaltningen vide skønsbeføjelser i anvendelsen af denne foranstaltning.
Indeed, the Commission stated that it did not have ‘sufficient proof of the alleged Spanish aid’ because Spain had indicated that the aid under Royal Decree 442/94 would no longer be available after 31 December 2000.
I betragtning af ordningens særlige kendetegn kunne meddelelsens ordlyd derfor ikke give anledning til usikkerhed og endnu mindre til berettigede forventninger for så vidt angår den indledende afskrivnings karakter af støtte.
After that date, the aid would no longer be authorised under the Shipbuilding Regulation [122].
Spørgsmålet om, hvorvidt indtægter fra bareboat-chartering kan omfattes af tonnageskatteordningen
However, the subject of the Commission investigation was the Dutch matching aid, not the alleged Spanish aid and the main doubt raised by the Commission in the decision to open proceedings concerned the possibility under the Framework on State aid to shipbuilding [123] of matching aid — once it had been proven — awarded by another Member State, and not by a non-EU State.
Den godkendelse, som blev givet ved Kommissionens beslutning K(2002) 582 endelig af 27. februar 2002, omhandler »spanske skibsfartsvirksomheder, hvis aktiviteter omfatter drift af ejede og chartrede skibe«.
The absence of proof of the alleged aid came as a secondary argument in the doubts expressed by the Commission.
Kommissionen finder dog, at denne sætning ikke kan skabe berettigede forventninger om, at enheder, hvis aktiviteter udelukkende består i at udchartre ét skib på bareboat-basis, ville være berettiget til TS-ordningen.
After asking Spain for clarifications based on the information provided by the Netherlands, the Commission could only record the Spanish denial that aid was granted [124] (pursuant to Spanish Royal Decree 442/94) and conclude that the Netherlands had failed to provide sufficient proof of the Spanish aid to be matched.
Som forklaret i betragtning (179) og (180) ovenfor er 2002-beslutningen klar med hensyn til, at TS-ordningen udelukkende gælder for kvalificerende skibe og kvalificerende søtransportaktiviteter.
The lack of proof of State aid does not amount to proof of the non-existence of State aid in (any) Spanish measure.
Retssikkerhed
On the contrary, the Commission had already clarified in the decision to open proceedings that it had ‘not been able to establish that Spain had illegally granted the alleged aid, but the Commission continues to keep the EU shipbuilding market, and potential State aid violations, under review [125].’
Retssikkerhed er et grundlæggende EU-retligt krav, der har til formål at sikre forudsigelighed i forbindelse med de situationer og retsforhold, der henhører under fællesskabsretten.
Had they considered in good faith that the Spanish aid that the Netherlands intended to match was the STL, the actual or potential recipients of the STL should have been alerted by the fact that Spain had denied its existence rather than pleaded its compatibility.
Ifølge retspraksis hindrer retssikkerhedskravet, at Kommissionen kan udsætte udøvelsen af sine beføjelser i det uendelige, og det indebærer ikke, at den pågældende institution griber ind [127].
The Commission considers that neither its decision to open the formal proceedings in the French GIE Fiscaux in 2004 nor its 2006 final decision concluding that the scheme was partly incompatible aid can possibly have created any legitimate expectations, as argued by PYMAR.
Indtil nu har der været krav om to kumulative elementer for at bryde dette princip:
Indeed, aid measures must be notified to the Commission.
tilstedeværelsen af en række elementer, som skaber en tilstand af retsusikkerhed med hensyn til foranstaltningens lovlighed
In the absence of a notification, only exceptional circumstances can lead the Member State and operators legitimately to expect that a measure does not constitute aid.
en langvarig passivitet fra Kommissionens side til trods for dens kendskab til støtten.
However, if the notification and approval procedure was not respected, it cannot legitimately be expected that a measure which amounts to State aid is compatible with the internal market.
Beslutningen om franske GIE Fiscaux og dommen i Salzgitter-sagen [128] er de eneste to tilfælde, hvor henholdsvis Kommissionen og Retten fandt, at tilsidesættelsen af retssikkerhedsprincippet kan være til hinder for tilbagesøgning, selv om der ikke foreligger berettigede forventninger.
On the contrary, in the French GIE Fiscaux Decision of 20 December 2006, the Commission clearly expressed its position that the French tax lease scheme conferred State aid.
Dog blev Salzgitter-dommen tilsidesat af Domstolen netop vedrørende anvendelsen af retssikkerhedsprincippet i sagen [129].
The fact that the STL was a tax lease scheme similar to the French scheme should have alerted Spain and the recipients to the likelihood that the STL could constitute State aid.
Elementer, der har skabt en tilstand af retsusikkerhed vedrørende foranstaltningens lovlighed
Therefore, any legitimate expectations that existed before publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on 30 April 2007 of the Decision concerning the French scheme would have ceased being legitimate from that date.
SLB og franske GIE Fiscaux har en række centrale kendetegn til fælles, og virkningerne ligner hinanden meget (se afsnit 5.6.1 Ligebehandling).
Similarly, the mere fact that the incompatible aid was not recovered in the French case is insufficient to create legitimate expectations that incompatible aid possibly identified in the Spanish case would not be recovered.
Begge bruges i finansieringen af langfristede investeringsaktiver.
Indeed, if there were any reasons to prevent the Commission from requesting the Member State to recover the aid, these would have to be found in the specific circumstances of the case.
De involverer skattetransparente ØIG'er, der afskriver aktiverne og overfører ejerskabet hertil til deres slutbruger gennem en slags leasingkontrakt.
The Commission considers that the letter sent by Commissioner Kroes could not have created any justified hopes concerning the STL or the individual measures involved in STL operations for the following reasons:
I begge tilfælde er afskrivningen indledende eller fremskyndet og ØIG's kapitalgevinster er fritaget for skat.
First of all, this letter is not a formal act representing the position of the Commission — i.e. the College of Commissioners — as would be a formal Commission Decision or the answer to a Parliamentary Question.
I begge tilfælde deles den økonomiske fordel som følge af den indledende eller fremskyndede afskrivning og af fritagelsen af kapitalgevinster mellem investorerne i ØIG'er og slutbrugeren af aktivet (gennem en prisreduktion), skønt der er store forskelle med hensyn til statens intervention i den forbindelse.
In her one-page letter, Commissioner Kroes replied, in the context of a bilateral exchange, to a one-page letter sent by Ms Brustad, Norwegian Minister for Trade and Industry.
De vigtigste foranstaltninger, der indgår i SLB-ordningen, blev gennemført mellem 2002 [130] og 2003, dvs. før Kommissionen besluttede, at den franske ordning udgjorde statsstøtte.
The content of this letter was not made public by the Commission.
På grund af ligheden mellem SLB og GIE Fiscaux er det derfor muligt — som de spanske myndigheder og visse tredjeparter hævder — at de forhold, der påberåbes til fordel for beskyttelsen af retssikkerheden for den franske ordning, også har skabt en tilstand af retsusikkerhed med hensyn til lovligheden af SLB.
The Commission notes that the letter from the Norwegian shipowner — mentioned in recital 105 above — is addressed to a single Spanish shipyard with which the shipowner is doing business and that the testimony, dated 2012, comes from Gerencia del Sector Naval, a government body.
Vedrørende dette punkt konkluderer Kommissionen, at denne usikre situation faktisk kunne være blevet skabt af Kommissionens redegørelse i dens beslutning fra 2001 om Brittany Ferries [131] om, at visse skattefordele var en generel foranstaltning.
The Commission also notes that neither the Spanish authorities — who knew that the investigation was ongoing — nor the operators considering STL operations asked the Commission to clarify the position expressed in Commissioner Kroes’s letter.
Som forklaret i betragtning 192 i GIE Fiscaux-beslutningen blev det ikke i denne redegørelse specificeret, at den omhandlede den ordning, der gik forud for GIE Fiscaux-ordningen, hvilket kan have vildledt modtagerne af denne ordning og af en lignende ordning såsom SLB.
Second, and more importantly, even if that letter was made public in 2009, it did not provide specific, unconditional and concordant assurances that the STL was lawful.
Med hensyn til de øvrige elementer, som Spanien og tredjeparterne gør gældende, har Kommissionen analyseret, om de påberåbte elementer til støtte for, at der foreligger berettigede forventninger (se afsnit 5.6.1) kunne have skabt en tilstand af retsusikkerhed.
Indeed, the answer given by Commissioner Kroes focuses on alleged discriminations between shipyards established in different EEA countries.
For det første har medlemsstaterne i henhold til traktaten pligt til at meddele Kommissionen deres planer om at yde ny støtte.
The conclusion of the letter that no further action was envisaged ‘at that stage’ was clearly linked to the recent publication of a statement clarifying that the STL could be used for the acquisition of ships produced in other European countries, which directly addressed the concerns expressed by Ms Brustad.
Offentliggørelsen af udkastet til foranstaltninger i det spanske parlaments statstidende kan ikke betragtes som en anmeldelse til Kommissionen, og Kommissionens manglende reaktion kan ikke have bidraget til at skabe en tilstand af retsusikkerhed.
In any event, the letter did not even mention, and even less took any position regarding, the presence of State aid at the level of the EIG or its investors.
For det andet viser anmodningen om oplysninger om en leasingbeskatningsforanstaltning i 2001, at Kommissionen reagerede på en klagers påstande om støtte.
As regards shipping companies, shipyards and intermediaries, the Commission considers that they are not recipients of the aid, so that the issue of legitimate expectations does not arise.
Denne anmodning blev stilet til Spanien, og i sine svar benægtede Spanien på det kraftigste, at der fandtes sådanne foranstaltninger.
The Commission therefore considers that the letter did not in any case provide precise, unconditional and consistent assurances liable to create legitimate expectations that the scheme did not contain State aid to the benefit of the EIG or its investors.
Anmodningen blev ikke offentliggjort af Kommissionen, men hvis fremtidige modtagere af SLB tilfældigt skulle høre om denne anmodning om oplysninger på det tidspunkt, hvor de havde til hensigt at deltage i ordningen, skulle de være blevet opmærksomme på, at der var indgivet en klage til Kommissionen, som mente, at foranstaltningerne under denne ordning kunne udgøre statsstøtte.
As the Commission did not identify the existence of legitimate expectations on the basis of the letter, the question whether such legitimate expectations would cover the period before the letter is of no relevance whatsoever.
En anmodning om oplysninger ville også vise, at Kommissionen ikke havde tilstrækkeligt kendskab til foranstaltningen til at vurdere den og ville ikke føre til den konklusion, at Kommissionen godkendte foranstaltningen.
A diligent economic operator could not have foreseen the possible existence of State aid in the joint application of several measures
Da denne anmodning blev sendt før ikrafttrædelsen af de foranstaltninger, som udgør SLB, kunne Spanien endvidere have anmeldt alle elementer i ordningen for at opnå retlig sikkerhed.
As the individual measures constitute State aid (except for the accelerated depreciation of leased assets), the fact that economic operators could not foresee that their combination could also be regarded as State aid is irrelevant and does not justify the existence of legitimate expectations or the breach of any other fundamental principle of EU law.
Alternativt burde modtagerne have spurgt Spanien — eller Kommissionen — om Spaniens anmeldelse af ordningen eller Kommissionens godkendelse heraf.
On the contrary, several third parties among the operators involved in STL operations have argued that the 2006 Decision in the French GIE Fiscaux case had given them legitimate expectations because the measure was very similar to the STL.
Som følge heraf kunne hverken Spanien eller de erhvervsdrivende påstå, at denne anmodning eller — i lyset af det afgivne svar — Kommissionens manglende opfølgende foranstaltninger har bidraget til at skabe en tilstand af retsusikkerhed.
The fact that all the features of the French measure were included in one legal provision necessarily implies a global assessment.
For det tredje fremhæver Kommissionen vedrørende 2004-beslutningen om den nederlandske kompensationsforanstaltning, at kompensation til en anden foranstaltning end SLB ikke kan have skabt en tilstand af retsusikkerhed med hensyn til SLB.
In that respect, the fact that the different elements of the STL were included in different measures — de facto linked and used together — to produce similar effects should not guarantee a different approach and does not rule out a global assessment.
Det forhold, at en præcis beskrivelse af den påståede spanske støtte i offentlige dokumenter kun blev givet i den nederlandske udgave af beslutningen om at indlede den formelle undersøgelsesprocedure, er ikke tilstrækkeligt til at konkludere, at læsere kunne antage, at den vedrørte SLB.
In any case, the Commission considers that both the early depreciation of leased assets and the tax exemption — pursuant to Article 50(3) RIS — of the capital gains realised under the TT constitute State aid in each case.
En oversættelse af den nederlandske beslutning eller en forespørgsel til Kommissionen kunne faktisk nemt have opklaret, at den påstående spanske støtte omhandlede rentetilskud på grundlag af kongeligt dekret 442/1994.
In the absence of any notification of these provisions, operators could only have legitimate expectations that they were lawful in exceptional circumstances that have not been demonstrated.
Endvidere nævnte Kommissionen blot, at Spanien havde benægtet, at den påståede spanske støtte fandtes, og at Nederlandene ikke havde fremlagt tilstrækkeligt bevis.
The statements concerning depreciation methods in the Commission Notice on direct business taxation [126]
Som nævnt i den pågældende beslutning kan Kommissionen kun stole på medlemsstaten og kan ikke gøres ansvarlig for den eventuelle usikkerhed, som en manglende opfølgning fra dens side kan have forårsaget.
The Commission notes that the wording of the Notice did not provide any grounds for operators to harbour legitimate expectations that the STL was lawful.
Kommissionen finder derfor, at beslutningen fra 2004 ikke kan have bidraget til en tilstand af retsusikkerhed med hensyn til SLB's lovlighed.
First, the provisions invoked refer only to depreciation methods so that legitimate expectations, if any, could only cover the early depreciation of leased assets.
For det fjerde mener Kommissionen, at den tilstand af retsusikkerhed, der blev skabt om lovligheden af SLB som følge af redegørelsen i Kommissionens beslutning fra 2001 vedrørende Brittany Ferries, ophørte på datoen for offentliggørelsen af Kommissionens beslutning vedrørende franske GIE Fiscaux.
Second, the Notice cannot be interpreted in such a way that any measure related to depreciation falls outside the scope of State aid rules.