Brussels, 22/07/2016 (Agence Europe) -On Friday 22 July, the European Commission announced its decision to bring Greece before the Court of Justice of the EU, as the country has failed to recover illegal aid for a total in excess of €250 million in favour of Hellenic Shipyards, despite the order to this effect issued by the Commission in 2008.
In 2012, the Court of Justice found against Greece in its failure to execute this decision, but the country has yet to comply with this judgement. The Commission is therefore calling upon the Court to fine Greece around €6 million. It is also calling for the Court to impose a daily penalty of nearly €35,000 from the date on which the judgement was returned until the date on which the country puts an end to the infringement.
In its judgement of 28 June 2012, the Court of Justice confirmed that Greece had failed to execute the Commission's 2008 decision. It also concluded that a letter sent by the Commission to Greece on 1 December 2010 had not been followed by sufficient action. The letter accepted a number of commitments made by Greece by way of executing the Commission's decision of 2008. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)