Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions)

Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 12 September 2013 -
Germany v Commission

(Case T-347/09)

State aid - Transfer free of charge of certain areas of natural national heritage - Measures for the financial support of large-scale environmental protection projects - Decision declaring aid compatible with the common market - Concept of undertaking - Obligation to state reasons

1.                     Actions for annulment - Actionable measures - Concept - Measures producing binding legal effects - Decision classifying a notified measure as State aid and declaring it compatible with the common market - Included (Arts 87 EC, 88 EC and 230 EC) (see para. 16)

2.                     State aid - Concept - Legal nature - Interpretation on the basis of objective factors - Judicial review - Scope (Art. 87(1) EC) (see paras 19, 21)

3.                     Competition - Community rules - Undertaking - Concept - Exercise of an economic activity - Organisations for protecting the environment carrying on secondary activities of an economic nature without a profit motive - Exercise of secondary activities not comparable with the exercise of the prerogatives of the public authorities - Competition with operators pursuing a profit motive - Included (Art. 87(1) EC) (see paras 25-30, 38, 41, 43-45, 48-50, 59)

4.                     State aid - Concept - Granting of an advantage to beneficiaries - Placing at disposal free of charge of areas of natural national heritage permitting commercial exploitation - Included (Art. 87(1) EC) (see paras 61, 62, 67-70, 72, 73)

5.                     Acts of the institutions - Statement of reasons - Obligation - Scope - Commission decision on State aid (Arts 87(1) EC and 253 EC) (see paras 93-95, 100)

Re:

APPLICATION for the annulment of Commission Decision C(2009) 5080 final of 2 July 2009 relating to State aid NN 8/2009 granted by the Federal Republic of Germany and concerning the State aid scheme consisting of the transfer, free of charge, of certain areas of natural national heritage, and of measures for the financial support of large-scale environmental protection projects (OJ 2009 C 230, p. 1).

Operative part

The Court:

1.

Dismisses the action;

2.

Orders the Federal Republic of Germany to bear its own costs and to pay those of the European Commission;

3.

Orders the French Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Finland to bear their own costs.