Action brought on 29 January 2020 — European Commission v Hellenic Republic

(Case C-51/20)

Language of the case: Greek

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: A. Bouchagiar and B. Stromsky)

Defendant: Hellenic Republic

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

declare that, by failing to take all the measures necessary to comply with the judgment of the Court of 9 November 2017 in Case C-481/16 Commission v Greece EU:C:2017:845, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under that judgment and under Article 260(1) TFEU,

order the Hellenic Republic to pay the Commission a penalty payment of EUR 26 697.89 for each day’s delay in complying with the judgment of the Court of 9 November 2017 in Case C-481/16, for the period from the day on which judgment in the present case is delivered until the day on which the judgment of 9 November 2017 has been complied with in full,

order the Hellenic Republic to pay the Commission a lump sum, the amount of which results from the multiplication of a daily amount of EUR 3 709.23 by the number of days elapsed from delivery of the judgment of 9 November 2017 until the day of delivery of the judgment in the present case,

order Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In accordance with the European Commission’s decision of 27 March 2014 in Case SA.34572, the Hellenic Republic should have recovered the incompatible aid granted to Larco within four months and informed the Commission to the requisite legal standard that it had taken the necessary measures to that end. The aid consisted of State guarantees to Larco for 2008, 2010 and 2011 and public participation in the company’s capital increase in 2009.

On 2 September 2016, the Commission brought an action before the Court for infringement of Article 108(2) TFEU (Case C-481/16). The Court ruled, on 9 November 2017, that, by failing to adopt, within the prescribed period, all the measures necessary to implement the Commission’s decision and by failing to inform the Commission of the measures adopted pursuant to that decision, the Hellenic Republic had failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 3 to 5 of that decision and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

By failing to take measures to comply with the judgment of the Court of 9 November 2017, the Hellenic Republic failed to fulfil its obligations under that decision and Article 260(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

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