In a judgment handed down on Wednesday 16 November (case T-469/20), the General Court of the European Union annulled the European Commission’s decision of May 2020 in which the Commission declared that the granting of compensation of €52.5 million to the company operating the Hemweg 8 coal-fired power station – which was closed in 2019 – was compatible with the internal market (see EUROPE 12485/23), even though the Commission had not, however, examined whether this measure constituted State aid.
The General Court, hearing an action brought by the Netherlands, relied on case-law to dismiss the European Commission’s plea of inadmissibility, based on the fact that the contested decision had no binding legal effect on the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
It also notes that the Commission is obliged to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 108 TFEU if, after a preliminary examination phase, it is unable to establish that a State measure does not constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 107 TFEU or that this measure, if it is to be qualified as aid, is compatible with the internal market.
It follows, the General Court concludes, that only a measure classified as State aid can be deemed by the Commission to be compatible with the internal market. This conclusion is, in their view, supported by Regulation (2015/1589) that lays down detailed rules for the application of Article 108 TFEU.
See the judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/435 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)