natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Hvad for det første angår selve anmodningerne om oplysninger bemærkede Retten, at spørgsmålet om, hvorvidt de oplysninger, der er anmodet om, er nødvendige, skal bedømmes ud fra den opfattelse, som Kommissionen med rimelighed kunne have på tidspunktet for udarbejdelsen af den omhandlede anmodning, og ikke ud fra, om oplysningerne faktisk var nødvendige for den efterfølgende procedure.
It observed that in a democratic State the legislative framework could be changed at any time — all the more so where the previous framework provided for the partitioning of a market along national or regional lines, so that monopoly situations arose. It followed that the opening-up of a previously partitioned market could not be regarded as anomalous in relation to normal market conditions.
Retten bemærkede videre, at da varigheden af den udsættelse af de frister, der er fastsat i®artikel®10 i®forordning nr.®139/2004 14, som vedtagelsen af en beslutning efter forordningens artikel®11 medfører, imidlertid afhænger af datoen for fremsendelse af de nødvendige oplysninger, tilsidesætter Kommissionen ikke proportionalitetsprincippet ved at udsætte proceduren, så længe den ikke har modtaget sådanne oplysninger.
Economic operators are in that respect entitled to protection of their legitimate expectations. Nevertheless, where they have in fact received that protection, they cannot be allowed to claim that it should be implemented by one means rather than another, that is to say, by means of the exclusion from the concept of aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) EC of aid compensating for loss sustained by reason of the legislative changes, rather than by a declaration of the compatibility of that measure with the common market, in accordance with Article 87(3) EC.
Hvad for det andet angår anmodninger om berigtigelse af oplysninger, som er fremsendt af en part, og om hvilke det er konstateret, at de er ukorrekte, understregede Retten først, at Kommissionen kan anmode om sådanne berigtigelser, hvis der er en risiko for, at de konstaterede fejl er egnede til i®væsentlig grad at påvirke bedømmelsen af den omhandlede fusions forenelighed med fællesmarkedet.
The Court also applied the principle stated in the judgment of the Court of Justice in TWD v Commission (17), according to which the Commission does not exceed the limits of its discretion when, in the case of aid which a Member State proposes to grant to an undertaking, it takes a decision declaring that aid to be compatible with the common market, but subject to the condition of prior repayment by the undertaking of unlawful aid received earlier, by reason of the cumulative e¥ect of the aid in question.
Retten bemærkede videre, at man ikke kan påberåbe sig en berettiget forventning for at undgå følgerne af en tilsidesættelse af pligten til at meddele fuldstændige og korrekte oplysninger med den ene begrundelse, at Kommissionen ikke opdagede denne tilsidesættelse ved den nævnte kontrol.
The fact that the earlier unlawful aid was not granted as individual aid but as part of an aid scheme and that the exact bene¤t for the recipient undertakings could not, because of the lack of cooperation from the Member State concerned, be determined by the Commission was not justi¤cation for not applying the principle in question, since any other approach would be tantamount to rewarding a failure to comply with the duty to cooperate in good faith and would deprive the system for the review of State aid of e¥ectiveness.
Rådets forordning (EF) nr.®139/2004 af 20.1.2004 om kontrol med fusioner og virksomhedsovertagelser (EUT®L®24, s.®1).
) Case C-355/95°P [1997] ECR°I-2549, paragraphs 25 to 27.
Den fastslog for det første, at artikel®20, stk.®1, i®forordning nr.®4064/89 15 kræver, at beslutninger tru©et i®henhold til denne forordning o©entliggøres i®Den Europæiske Unions Tidende, hvorved beregningen af søgsmålsfristen for personer, der ikke er identicerede modtagere i®den anfægtede beslutning, skal ske på baggrund af det første tilfælde omhandlet i®artikel®230, stk.®5, EF, nemlig fra denne o©entliggørelse.
In that connection, the obligation on the Member State and on the undertaking that is the potential recipient of new aid to provide the Commission with information to show that the aid is compatible with the common market also entails the need to show that there is no cumulative e¥ect of the new aid and earlier unlawful aid.
Tildelingen af en sådan skønsbeføjelse kan medføre en tilsidesættelse af ligebehandlingsprincippet, idet de personer blandt dem, der ikke udtrykkeligt er nævnt som adressater i®en beslutning, der er blevet »meddelt« beslutningen, kan anfægte den fra dagen for dens »meddelelse«, mens de andre, der ikke er blevet »meddelt« denne beslutning, kan anfægte den fra dagen for dens o©entliggørelse.
If the Commission has not been able — because of the failure of the Member State and the potential recipient of the aid to comply with that obligation — to assess the e¥ects on competition which that cumulative e¥ect might have, it cannot be criticised for a lack of de¤nition or analysis of the market at issue.
Endvidere kan Kommissionen ikke altid a priori®identicere de personer, der har søgsmålskompetence fra dagen for meddelelsen af en beslutning.
In Deutsche Post and DHL International v Commission, the Court stated that the dicta of the Court of Justice in Altmark (18) were fully applicable to earlier Commission decisions.
Denne forskelsbehandling kan i®denne forbindelse således ikke berettiges af målsætningen om hurtigst muligt at sikre retssikkerheden.
Thus, the fact that the Commission had not been in a position, during the preliminary examination procedure under Article 88(2) EC, to carry out a complete examination of whether the level of compensation awarded to a service of general economic interest was appropriate constituted evidence of the existence of serious diculties in establishing whether aid was compatible with the common market.
Retspraksis på området for statsstøtte udgjorde en væsentlig del af Rettens aktiviteter i®2009 med afslutningen af 70 sager og indbringelse af 46 sager.
The Court also pointed out that — as the assessment of existing aid can lead only to measures which produce e¥ects for the future — although any over-compensation in the past may possibly be relevant to an assessment of the compatibility of existing aid with the common market, the fact nevertheless remains that an examination as to whether there has been such over-compensation is not, in itself, absolutely necessary for a proper assessment of the need to propose appropriate measures for the future and determination of what those measures should be.
Der kan alene gives en kort oversigt over disse afgørelser for så vidt angår for det første formaliteten, for det andet materielle spørgsmål og for det tredje processuelle regler.
The risk or otherwise of over-compensation for the future ultimately depends essentially on the speci¤c detailed arrangements of the ¤nancing scheme itself, and not on the fact that the scheme has, in practice, led to over-compensation in the past.
Retspraksis i®år præciserer bl.a. begreberne med hensyn til en retsakt med bindende retsvirkninger og søgsmålsinteresse.
In Case T-156/04 EDF v Commission (judgment of 15 December 2009), the Court recalled that investment by public authorities in the capital of an undertaking, in whatever form, can constitute State aid.
Hvad angår begrebet en retsakt med bindende retsvirkninger forkastede Retten i®sin dom af 11.®marts 2009, TF1 mod Kommissionen (sag®T-354/05, endnu ikke trykt i®Samling af Afgørelser), Kommissionens argumentation, hvorefter den ikke træ©er beslutning i®tilfælde af en undersøgelsesprocedure vedrørende eksisterende støtte, der resulterer i®statens accept af de foreslåede passende foranstaltninger eller tilsigter en begrænsning af proceduren til et næsten kontraktmæssigt forhold.
However, by virtue of the principle that the public and private sectors are to be treated equally, that cannot be the case where capital is placed directly or indirectly at the disposal of an undertaking by the State in circumstances which correspond to normal market conditions. In situations where the intervention does not form part of the exercise of public powers the private operator test applies in order to determine whether a private operator with a view to pro¤t would have been likely to make the investment.
Medlemsstaterne og Kommissionen kan ganske vist drøfte de foreslåede passende foranstaltninger, men det er først, når Kommissionen beslutter at acceptere medlemsstatens tilsagn som værende i®overensstemmelse med dens betænkeligheder, at undersøgelsesproceduren vedrørende en eksisterende støtte bringes til ophør ved en beslutning, der kan efterprøves.
In that regard, the Court pointed out that it is settled case-law that, in order to determine whether measures taken by the State represent the exercise of public powers or whether they are the consequence of obligations that the State must assume as shareholder, it is important to look not at the form of those measures, but at their nature, their subject matter and the rules to which they are subject, while taking into account the objective which they pursue.
I®dom af 9. juni®2009, NDSHT mod Kommissionen (sag®T-152/06, endnu ikke trykt i®Samling af Afgørelser og appelleret til Domstolen), fastslog Retten, at Kommissionens pligt til at vedtage en beslutning som svar på en klage kun vedrørte det tilfælde, der omtales i®artikel®13 i®forordning nr.®659/1999 16.
In the case in point, the Court observed that the Commission had not examined whether the capital increase in Électricité de France (EDF), carried out by the French Republic by means of the waiver of a tax claim, constituted a legal measure in the light of the private investor test.
Dette er navnlig tilfældet, når forordningens artikel®13 ikke nder anvendelse, fordi®klagen ikke vedrører en ulovlig støtte, men i®realiteten tilsigter en eksisterende støtte.
In the Commission’s view, that test could not apply to a tax advantage since the waiver stemmed from the exercise by the State of its regulatory powers or even of its rights and powers as a public authority.
Det følger af den omstændighed, at det alene er Kommissionen, der kan tage initiativ til at gribe ind i®forbindelse med eksisterende støtte, at en klager ikke ved en klage kan tvinge Kommissionen til at vurdere foreneligheden af en eksisterende støtte.
The Court rejected the Commission’s interpretation, stating that the application of the private investor test could not be dismissed solely on the ground that EDF’s capital increase stemmed from the waiver by the State of a tax claim which it held against EDF.
Hvis Kommissionen efter en første vurdering nder, at klagen ikke omfatter ulovlig, men eksisterende støtte, er den ikke forpligtet til at rette en beslutning som omhandlet i®artikel®4 i®forordning nr.®659/1999 til den pågældende medlemsstat og kan ikke tvinges til at iværksætte proceduren i®artikel®88, stk.®1, EF.
In such circumstances, it was for the Commission to determine whether a private investor would have invested a comparable amount in similar circumstances, irrespective of the form of the intervention by the State to increase EDF’s capital and the possible use of tax resources to that end, with a view to ascertaining the economic rationale for that investment and to comparing it with the actions such an investor would have taken with respect to the same undertaking in the same circumstances.
En skrivelse, som kvalicerer den støtte, der klages over i®klagen, som eksisterende støtte, har således ikke karakter af en beslutning, der har retligt bindende virkninger, som kan berøre sagsøgerens interesser.
The Court also stated that such an obligation on the part of the Commission to determine whether the capital was provided by the State in circumstances corresponding to normal market conditions existed irrespective of the form in which the capital was provided by the State, regardless of whether it was similar to that which a private investor could have used.
Hvad angår søgsmålsinteresse har Retten fastslået i®dommen i®sagen TF1 mod Kommissionen, at sagsøgeren ikke kan betragtes som uden søgsmålsinteresse af den grund, at den anfægtede beslutning er begunstigende for denne, for så vidt som beslutningen pålægger betingelser vedrørende en konkurrerende virksomheds støtte.
Lastly, the Court stated that the very purpose of the private investor test is to establish whether, despite the fact that the State has at its disposal means which are not available to a private investor, the latter would, in the same circumstances, have taken an investment decision comparable to that taken by the State.
Et sådant ræsonnement hviler således på en forudsætning om, at sagsøgerens indsigelser vedrørende beslutningens indhold, især vedrørende den åbenbart uegnede karakter af de tilsagn, der skulle sikre, at en støtteordning var forenelig med fællesmarkedet, er urigtige.
The nature of the claim converted into capital and, therefore, the fact that a private investor cannot hold a tax claim are therefore irrelevant to the issue of whether or not the private investor test must be applied.
En annullation af den anfægtede beslutning, begrundet i®Kommis-sionens åbenbare fejl i®forbindelse med fastlæggelsen af de passende foranstaltninger, der skulle gennemføres, eller i®en utilstrækkelig begrundelse for, at foranstaltningerne var egnede til at løse de identicerede problemer, ville imidlertid ikke stille sagsøgeren i®en mindre gunstig situation end den, der følger af den anfægtede beslutning.
Accordingly, the Court concluded that the Commission, by refusing to examine the contested measure in its context and to apply the private investor test, had erred in law.
En sådan annullation ville således betyde, at den anfægtede beslutning var karakteriseret eller kunne være karakteriseret ved uegnede tilsagn og derfor var ufordelagtig for sagsøgeren.
It therefore annulled the contested decision in part.
I®dom af 10. februar 2009, Deutsche Post og DHL International mod Kommissionen (sag®T-388/03, endnu ikke trykt i®Samling af Afgørelser og appelleret til Domstolen), præciserede Retten, at interesserede parter som omhandlet i®artikel®88, stk.®2, EF havde en interesse i, at en beslutning fra Kommissionen, som blev tru©et ved afslutningen af den indledende undersøgelsesprocedure, blev annulleret, da en sådan annullation pålagde Kommissionen at indlede den formelle undersøgelsesprocedure og gav sagsøgerne adgang til at fremsætte deres bemærkninger og dermed øve ind¯ydelse på den nye beslutning.
In Joined Cases T-427/04 and T-17/05 France and France Télécom v Commission (judgment of 30 November 2009), the Court con¤rmed the line of case-law according to which it must be possible, having regard to the information given in the decision, to calculate the amount of the aid to be recovered without overmuch diculty. It held that the Commission is justi¤ed in con¤ning itself to ¤nding that there is an obligation to repay the aid in question and leaving it to the national authorities to calculate the exact amount of aid to be repaid, particularly where that calculation requires tax and social security systems, the detailed rules of which are laid down in the applicable national legislative provisions, to be taken into account.
Retten skal i®denne forbindelse ikke sammenligne de anbringender, der er fremført, med de argumenter, sagsøgerne har fremført til deres forsvar i®en anden tvist.
In the case in point attention must be drawn to the fact that the Commission had used a range of amounts.
Rådets forordning (EF) nr.®659/1999 af 22.3.1999 om fastlæggelse af regler for anvendelsen af artikel®[88 EF] (EFT®L®83, s.®1).
In that connection, the Court pointed out that the Commission had stated, in the contested decision, that the amount of aid in question was between EUR 798 million and EUR 1 140 million.
Indrømmelse af en økonomisk fordel
Formal investigation procedure
I®dom af 11. februar 2009, Iride og Iride Energia mod Kommissionen (sag®T-25/07, endnu ikke trykt i®Samling af Afgørelser og appelleret til Domstolen), tog Retten stilling til spørgsmålet om, hvorvidt privatiseringen af et marked var en del af den udvikling, som de erhvervsdrivende måtte forvente, eller om de sædvanlige markedsvilkår tværtimod indebar, at retsgrundlaget var stabilt.
In Case T-375/04 Scheucher-Fleisch and Others v Commission (judgment of 18 November 2009), the Court recalled that the Commission is required to initiate the formal investigation procedure if, in the light of the information obtained during the preliminary examination procedure, it still faces serious diculties in assessing the measure under consideration.
Retten fastslog, at i®en demokratisk stat kunne retsgrundlaget altid ændres, og at dette gjaldt så meget desto mere, hvis de tidligere retsforskrifter foreskrev afskærmning af et nationalt eller regionalt marked, således at der skabes monopolsituationer.
When the Commission examined the compatibility of the aid in question with the common market, it was aware that one of the paragraphs of the national law in question did not comply with the condition set out in the Guidelines for State aid for advertising that a national quality control scheme cannot be restricted to products of a particular origin.
Det følger heraf, at åbningen af et marked, der hidtil havde været afskærmet, ikke kunne betegnes som usædvanligt i®forhold til sædvanlige markedsvilkår.
That provision therefore raised doubts as to the compatibility of the aid in question with the Guidelines for State aid for advertising and should have led to the initiation of the procedure referred to in Article 88(2) EC.
De økonomiske operatører har i®denne forbindelse ret til beskyttelse af deres berettigede forventning.
The Court therefore annulled the contested decision.
Retten anvendte ligeledes det princip, der var blevet fastslået i®Domstolens dom af 15. maj 1997, TWD mod Kommissionen 17, hvorefter Kommissionen ikke overskrider rammerne for sin skønsbeføjelse, når den i®tilfælde af et støtteprojekt, som en medlemsstat tilbyder en virksomhed, træ©er en beslutning, hvorved denne støtte erklæres forenelig med fællesmarkedet, men med forbehold af, at virksomheden forudgående tilbagebetaler en tidligere ulovlig støtte, og dette på grund af den omhandlede støttes kumulative virkning.
On another point, in France and France Télécom v Commission, the Court stated that the fact that the Commission had, in the contested decision, altered its analysis by comparison with the decision to initiate a formal investigation procedure would lead, in the case of the State concerned, to infringement of the rights of the defence only if the information contained in that decision or subsequently provided during the exchange of arguments in the administrative procedure had not enabled the State to comment properly on all the matters of law or fact contained in the contested decision.
Den omstændighed, at den tidligere ulovlige støtte ikke blev ydet som individuel støtte, men inden for rammerne af en støtteordning, og at den præcise fordel for de modtagende virksomheder på grund af den pågældende medlemsstats manglende samarbejde ikke har kunnet fastlægges af Kommissionen, kan ikke begrunde, at det omtalte princip ikke lægges til grund, idet enhver anden løsning ville belønne den manglende overholdelse af pligten til loyalt at samarbejde og ville fratage ordningen for kontrol af statsstøtte dens e©ektive virkning.
By contrast, di¥erences between the contested decision and the opening decision which resulted from the Commission accepting, in whole or in part, the arguments put forward by the Member State, could not, by de¤nition, give rise to an infringement of the rights of the defence of that State.
Den forpligtelse, som påhviler medlemsstaterne og de virksomheder, der potentielt vil kunne modtage ny støtte, til at fremlægge oplysninger for Kommissionen til godtgørelse af, at denne støtte er forenelig med fællesmarkedet, omfatter i®den henseende endvidere nødvendigheden af at fastslå, at der ikke er kumulativ virkning af den nye støtte og den gamle støtte, der er ulovlig.
Similarly, in Case T-211/05 Italy v Commission (judgment of 4 September 2009), the Court held that the formal investigation procedure allows there to be a more in-depth examination and clari-¤cation of the questions raised in the decision to initiate the procedure, so that any di¥erence between that decision and the ¤nal decision cannot be regarded in itself as constituting a defect rendering the ¤nal decision unlawful.
Hvis Kommissionen på grund af medlemsstatens og den potentielle støttemodtagers tilsidesættelse af denne forpligtelse ikke kunne bedømme påvirkningen af konkurrencen som følge af denne kumulative virkning, kan Kommissionen ikke bebrejdes, at den ikke har foretaget en afgrænsning eller en undersøgelse af det pågældende marked.
The provisions relating to the review of State aid do not require the Commission to inform the Member State concerned of its position before adopting its decision, where the Member State has been given notice to submit its comments.
I, s.®2549, præmis®25-27.Sag®C-280/00, Sml. I, s.®7747.
) Case C-441/06 Commission v France [2007] ECR°I-8887.
Kommissionens tidligere beslutninger.
Moreover, to adopt the construction proposed by the applicants was to give the 1983 Communication on illegal aid a signi¤cance which is contrary to Article 88(3) EC.
Den omstændighed, at Kommissionen ikke inden for rammerne af den indledende undersøgelsesprocedure efter artikel®88, stk.®2, EF var i®stand til at foretage en fuldstændig undersøgelse med hensyn til vurderingen af, om størrelsen af den kompensation, der blev tildelt for en tjenesteydelse af almindelig økonomisk interesse, var hensigtsmæssig, udgør således et indicium for tilstedeværelsen af alvorlige vanskeligheder ved vurderingen af, om en støtte er forenelig med fællesmarkedet.
The risk attaching to illegally granted aid was a consequence of the practical e¥ect of the obligation to notify laid down in Article 88(3) EC and did not depend on whether or not the notice provided for in the 1983 Communication on illegal aid was published in the Ocial Journal.
I®dommen i®sagen TF1 mod Kommissionen bekræftede Retten, at de betingelser, der blev opstillet i®Altmark-dommen, som har til formål at afgøre, om der foreligger statsstøtte i®artikel®87, stk.®1, EF’s forstand, ikke skal sammenblandes med testen i®artikel®86, stk.®2, EF, som gør det muligt at godtgøre, om en foranstaltning, der udgør statsstøtte, kan betragtes som forenelig med fællesmarkedet.
In particular, if the system of monitoring State aid established by the Treaty were to be maintained, the recovery of illegally granted aid could not be rendered impossible merely because there had been no publication of such a notice by the Commission. The Court concluded that the failure to publish the notice provided for in the 1983 Communication on illegal aid did not constitute an exceptional circumstance capable of justifying any expectation whatever that the illegally granted aid was lawful.
Risikoen eller manglende risiko for overkompensation med virkning for fremtiden afhænger i®sidste instans hovedsageligt af nansierings-ordningens konkrete bestemmelser og ikke af den omstændighed, at ordningen tidligere i®praksis havde skabt en overkompensation.
Since it had failed to give that noti¤cation before the implementation of the tax regime in question, it could not rely on the principle of protection of legitimate expectations unless it could prove that there were exceptional circumstances.
I®dom af 15. december 2009, EDF mod Kommissionen (sag®T-156/04, endnu ikke trykt i®Samling af Afgørelser), bemærkede Retten, at o©entlige myndigheders indgreb i®en virksomheds kapital, uanset under hvilken form dette indgreb skete, kunne udgøre statsstøtte.
In France and France Télécom v Commission, the Court provided important clari¤cation concerning the procedure for the adoption of Commission decisions on State aid.