Christophe Giolito

ECJ, 11 December 2008, Commission v Freistaat Sachsen, Case C-334/07P. Following an appeal brought by the Commission, the Court of Justice sets aside thejudgment of the CFI of 3 May 2007 in Freistaat Sachsen v Commission (T-357/02). By that judgment, the Court of First Instance partially (...)

ECJ, 11 December 2008, Commission v Département du Loiret and Scott SA, Case C-295/07P. Following an appeal brought by the Commission, the Court of Justice sets aside thejudgment of the Court of First Instance of 29 March 2007 in Case T-37/07 Département du Loiret v Commission (T 369/00, ECR p. (...)

EC Comm, 13 October 2008, Communication on The application of State aid rules to measures taken in relation to financial institutions in the context of the current global financial crisis, (2008/C 270/02) By adopting these guidelines, the Commission has honoured, in a very short period of (...)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (General block exemption Regulation) The European Commission adopted a Regulation on 7 July 2008, which entered into (...)

ECJ, 23 July 2008, DHL - Leipzig-Halle Airport - Germany, Case C 48/2006 (ex N 227/2006) The European Commission decided on 23 July 2008 that a public investment of some €350 million for a new southern runway at Leipzig/Halle airport constitutes compatible state aid. However, the Commission (...)

EC Comm, 16 July 2008, Capital injection for France Télévisions - France, case N 279/2008 The causes of the measure: the announcement of the abolition of advertising on public channels This announcement by the President of the French Republic on 8 January 2008 had an immediate impact on the (...)

CFI, 26 June 2008, Sociedade Independente de Comunicação, SA (SIC) v. Commission, Case T-442/03 Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) is the public company in charge of the public service of Portuguese television. Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC) is a commercial company which operates one of (...)

ECJ, 22 April 2008, Commission v. Salzgitter AG and Federal Republic of Germany, case C-408/04 P By its appeal, which falls within the framework of the former rules under the ECSC Treaty applicable until July 2002, the European Commission sought the annulment of the judgment of the Court of (...)

CFI, 15 April 2008, SIDE v Commission, Case T-348/04 This is the third judgment annulling the Commission’s decision on aid paid since 1980 by France to the Coopérative d’exportation du livre français acting under the trade name ’Centre d’exportation du livre français’ (CELF). Its activity is aimed (...)

EC Comm, Community guidelines on State aid for environmental protection, OJ C 82/1, 01.04.08 On 23 January 2008, the European Commission adopted an ambitious package of measures in response to the commitments made by the European Council to combat climate change and promote renewable energy (...)

EC Comm, 27 February 2008, Automobile Craiova (former Daewoo Romania), case C 46/2007 In the framework of the in-depth state aid investigation into the privatisation of Automobile Craiova, the Commission found that Romania had made the sale of the company subject to conditions aimed at (...)

ECJ, 12 February 2008, CELF and Minister of Culture and Communication v. Société internationale de diffusion et d’édition, case C-199/06 Referred to it by the French Conseil d’État, the Court had to answer an important question on the interpretation of Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty and on the (...)

CFI, 20 September 2007, EARL Salvat père & fils, and others v. Commission, case T-136/05 By decision of 19 January 2005 concerning the Rivesaltes plan and the CIVDN parafiscal charges implemented by France, the Commission has ruled on the legality of various measures taken by the French (...)

CFI, 4 July 2007, Bouygues SA and Bouygues Télécom SA v. Commission, Case T-475/04 As part of the procedure for the awarding of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) licenses, Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom were granted their respective UMTS licenses, the former by orders dated (...)

EC Comm, 29 June 2007, State Aid Scoreboard - spring 2007 update, COM(2007) 347 final The spring 2007 update of the State Aid Scoreboard just adopted by the European Commission concludes that unlawful state aid is in general much more harmful to competition and trade than notified aid. The (...)

EC Comm, 13 June 2007, Communication concerning the prolongation of the application of the Communication on the follow-up to the Commission communication on certain legal aspects relating to cinematographic and other audiovisual works (Cinema Communication) The European Commission has adopted (...)

EC Comm, 13 June 2007, Regulated electricity tariffs in France, case C 17 / 2007, not yet published - See Press Release IP/07/815 The European Commission has initiated a formal investigation procedure under Article 88(2) EC to allow France and interested parties to submit their comments on (...)

CFI, 3 May 2007, Freistaat Sachsen v Commission, Case T-357/02 By the above-mentioned judgment, the Court of First Instance annulled substantial parts of a Commission decision of 24 September 2002, by which the Commission declared four sub-programmes of an aid scheme for SMEs notified by (...)

CFI (order), 30 April 2007, EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG v Commission, Case T-387/04 This case is interesting on the question of the treatment under aid law of the new CO2 emissions trading scheme created by Community law in anticipation of the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. The (...)

EC Comm, 24 April 2007, Aid to the German public broadcasters, case E 3/2005 After France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, the Commission has examined the financing regime for German public TV channels. Since 2002, private competitors have filed several complaints against the financing of public (...)

EC Comm, 13 February 2007, doc. C(2007) 411 final, on the incompatibility of certain Swiss company tax regimes with the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation of 22 July 1972 Following complaints from Member States, Members of the European Parliament and (...)

EC Commission, Community framework for state aid for research and development and innovation, OJ 2006, 323/1. It is the Commission’s practice to adopt guidelines and frameworks which, according to established case law, constitute a discipline which is binding on both the Commission and the (...)

CFI, 12 December 2006, Asociación de Empresarios de Estaciones de Servicio de la Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid v. Commission, Case T-146/03 On the substance, the Court of First Instance reminds the Commission of its obligations under Article 253 EC to state the reasons for its State aid (...)

EC Comm, Regulation (EC) No 1628/2006 of 24 October 2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to national regional investment aid Thanks to the new block exemption Regulation, Member States will no longer be obliged to notify certain regional investment aid schemes to the (...)

EC Comm, dec. 2007/175/EC, 19 July 2006, broadband infrastructure in Appingedam (Netherlands), case C 35/2005, OJ 2007, L86/1 The European Commission has decided to prohibit public funding for the planned construction of a fibre access network in the Dutch city of Appingedam. This project (...)