República Italiana contra Comisión de las Comunidades Europeas.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Writing for the Court: Joliet
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:1993:157
• Docket Number: C-364/90
• Date: 28 April 1993
• Procedure Type: Recours en annulation - fondé

Avis juridique important

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61990J0364

Judgment of the Court of 28 April 1993. - Italian Republic v Commission of the European Communities. - Action for annulment of measures - Special aid for certain areas of the Mezzogiorno affected by natural disasters. - Case C-364/90.

European Court reports 1993 Page I-02097

Summary
Parties
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part

Keywords

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State aid ° Prohibition ° Exceptions ° Duty of Member State requesting derogation to collaborate with the Commission

(EEC Treaty, Art. 92(2))

Summary

A Member State which seeks to be allowed to grant aid by way of derogation from the Treaty rules has a duty to collaborate with the Commission. In pursuance of that duty, it must in particular provide all the information to enable the Commission to verify that the conditions for the derogation sought are fulfilled.

Parties

In Case C-364/90,

Italian Republic, represented by Professor Luigi Ferrari Bravo, Head of the Department for Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent, assisted by P.G. Ferri, Avvocato dello Stato, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the Italian Embassy, 5 Rue Marie-Adélaïde,

applicant,

v

Commission of the European Communities, represented by A. Abate, Principal Legal Adviser, acting as Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of Nicola Annecchino, of its Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg,

defendant,

APPLICATION for the annulment of Articles 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Commission Decision 91/175/EEC of 25 July 1990 concerning aid provided for in Italian Law No 120/87 to assist certain areas of the Mezzogiorno affected by natural disasters (OJ 1991 L 86 p. 23),

THE COURT,

composed of: G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, (President of Chamber, acting for the President), M. Zuleeg and J.L. Murray (Presidents of Chambers), G.F. Mancini, R. Joliet, F.A. Schockweiler, J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, F. Grévisse and D.A.O. Edward, Judges,

Advocate General: F.G. Jacobs,

Registrar: L. Hewlett, Administrator,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing oral argument from the parties at the hearing on 15 December 1992,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 17 February 1993,

gives the following

Judgment

Grounds

1 By application of 11 December 1990, the Italian Government brought an action pursuant to the first paragraph of Article 173 of the EEC Treaty for the annulment of Articles 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Commission Decision 91/175/EEC of 25 July 1990 concerning aid provided for in Italian Law No 120/87 to assist certain areas of the Mezzogiorno affected by natural disasters (OJ 1991 L 86 p. 23, hereinafter "the contested decision").

2 In that decision, the Commission declared illegal and incompatible with the common market within the meaning of Article 92(1) of the Treaty certain aid measures introduced by Italian Law No 120 of 27 March 1987 ("Law No 120/87") jointly with Decree-Law No 474 of 20 November 1987, converted into Law No 12 of 21 January 1988 ("Decree No 474/87") for regions of southern Italy which had suffered natural disasters.

3 As a result of major earthquakes in southern Italy in November 1980 and February 1981, the Italian authorities adopted Law No 219 of 14 May 1981 ("Law No 219/81"), Article 32 of which provided for the grant of aid for reconstruction and development. The aid was to go towards investment projects the cost of which did not exceed LIT 20 000 million relating to 20 zones in Basilicata, Campania and Apulia. The intensity ceiling of the aid was limited to 75% of the cost of the investments. The deadline by which undertakings had to submit applications for aid was 31 December 1982.

4 By Law No 64 of 1 March 1986 ("Law No 64/86") Italy then set up a general scheme for exceptional assistance to the Mezzogiorno. By Decision 88/318/EEC of 2 March 1988 on Law No 64 of 1 March 1986 (OJ 1988 L 143, p. 37), the Commission approved various components of that aid scheme. In particular, it authorized intensity ceilings varying between 28.07% and 73.78% in "net grant equivalent".

5 Less than one year later, by Decree-Law No 8 of 26 January 1987, converted into Law No 120/87, Italy extended the deadline for obtaining the aid provided for by Law No 219/81 until 30 June 1987. Jointly with Decree-Law No 474/87, Law No 120/87, however, varied the previous rules in certain respects.

6 In the first place, the territorial scope of the aid scheme laid down by Article 32 of Law No 219/87 was extended beyond the twenty zones for which it was originally intended (Article 8(7) of Law No 120/87 and Article 10(3) of Decree-Law No 474/87).

7 Secondly, the initial investment ceiling of LIT 20 000 million, subsequently increased to LIT 32 000 million by Law No 187 of 29 April 1982, was raised to LIT 50 000 million (Article 8(2 bis) and (2 ter) of Law No...