República Italiana contra Comisión de las Comunidades Europeas.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Writing for the Court: Rodríguez Iglesias
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:1991:367
• Docket Number: C-261/89
• Date: 03 October 1991
• Procedure Type: Recurso de anulación - infundado

Avis juridique important

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61989J0261

Judgment of the Court of 3 October 1991. - Italian Republic v Commission of the European Communities. - State aid to aluminium undertakings - Contribution of capital. - Case C-261/89.

European Court reports 1991 Page I-04437

Summary
Parties
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part

Keywords

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1. State aid - Concept - Financial assistance granted by a Member State to an undertaking - Criterion for assessment - Reasonable nature of the operation for a private investor - Financial contribution intended for productive investment - Irrelevance

(EEC Treaty, Art. 92(1) )

2. State aid - Plan to grant aid - Consideration by the Commission - Factors to be considered - Prior decision - New facts

(EEC Treaty, Art. 93(2) )

Summary

1. To determine whether a contribution by the public authorities to the capital of an undertaking, in whatever form, constitutes State aid within the meaning of Article 92 of the Treaty, it must be considered whether, in similar circumstances, a private investor operating on a scale comparable to that of the bodies administering the public sector might have been induced to provide contributions of capital to a like extent. Capital placed at the disposal of an undertaking by the State in circumstances which correspond to normal market conditions cannot be regarded as State aid.

The fact that a financial contribution is intended for productive investment does not by itself preclude such a contribution from constituting aid when, regard being had to the situation of the undertaking, it appears improbable that a private shareholder would have subscribed the capital in question.

2. When the Commission considers the compatibility of a State aid with Community rules, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 93(2) of the Treaty, it must take all the relevant factors into account, including, where relevant, the circumstances already considered in a prior decision and the obligations which that decision may have imposed on a Member State; this procedure enables it to appraise in addition any new factor capable of altering its assessment, regard being had to the purpose of any new aid and all relevant economic circumstances at the time the aid is granted.

Parties

In Case C-261/89,

Italian Republic, represented by Professor Luigi Ferrari Bravo, Head of the Department for Contentious Diplomatic Matters of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent, assisted by Pier Giorgio 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 its Legal Advisers Antonino Abate and Sergio Fabro, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of Guido Berardis, a member of the Commission' s Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg,

defendant,

APPLICATION for a declaration that the decision of the Commission of the European Communities of 24 May 1989 on aid granted by the Italian Government to Aluminia and Comsal of the EFIM group is void,

THE COURT,

composed of: O. Due, President, G.F. Mancini, T.F. O' Higgins, J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias (Presidents of Chambers), Sir Gordon Slynn, F.A. Schockweiler, F. Grévisse and M. Zuleeg, Judges,

Advocate General: W. Van Gerven,

Registrar: J.-G. Giraud,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing oral argument presented by the parties at the hearing on 14 May 1991,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 12 June 1991,

gives the following

Judgment

Grounds

1 By application lodged at the Court Registry on 17 August 1989, the Italian Republic brought an action under the first paragraph of Article 173 of the EEC Treaty for a declaration that Commission Decision 90/224/EEC on aid granted by the Italian Government to Aluminia and Comsal, two State-owned undertakings in the aluminium industry, was void. That...