Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber), 20 September 2012

French Republic v European Commission

State aid — Aid allegedly implemented by France in the form of an implied, unlimited guarantee in favour of La Poste as a result of its status as a publicly-owned establishment — Decision declaring the aid incompatible with the internal market — Action for annulment — Interest in bringing proceedings — Admissibility — Burden of proving the existence of State aid — Advantage

Case T‑154/10



Top of the page Documents in the Case
Document Date Name of the parties Subject-matter Curia EUR-Lex Autres Liens
Judgment (OJ)
19/10/2012 France v Commission
Judgment
ECLI:EU:T:2012:452
20/09/2012 France v Commission
Judgment (Summary)
ECLI:EU:T:2012:452
20/09/2012 France v Commission
Application (OJ)
19/06/2010 France v Commission
Top of the page Legal analysis of the decision or of the case

Reports of Cases

published in the electronic Reports of Cases (Court Reports - general)

Subject-matter

Annulment of Commission Decision C(2010) 133 Final of 26 January 2010 declaring the implicit unlimited guarantee in favour of La Poste under the provisions of French law concerning the legal consequences of its status as a legal entity governed by public law, the equivalent of a State-owned industrial and commercial establishment, to be State aid incompatible with the Common Market (State aid No C 56/2007 (formerly E 15/2005))

Systematic classification scheme

1.
3 Legal proceedings
  3.02 Actions for annulment
    3.02.02 Applications by Member States or institutions
3 Legal proceedings
  3.02 Actions for annulment
    3.02.01 Acts which may be the subject of an action for annulment
4 Internal policy of the European Union
  4.09 State aid
    4.09.04 Procedure for reviewing aid
      4.09.04.07 Commission decision following the formal investigation procedure
        4.09.04.07.00 General
3 Legal proceedings
  3.08 Procedural rules
    3.08.04 Subject-matter, form of order sought and pleas in law
      3.08.04.03 New pleas in law
4 Internal policy of the European Union
  4.09 State aid
    4.09.01 Definition of aid
      4.09.01.00 General
4 Internal policy of the European Union
  4.09 State aid
    4.09.04 Procedure for reviewing aid
      4.09.04.07 Commission decision following the formal investigation procedure
        4.09.04.07.00 General
4 Internal policy of the European Union
  4.09 State aid
    4.09.04 Procedure for reviewing aid
      4.09.04.07 Commission decision following the formal investigation procedure
        4.09.04.07.00 General
4 Internal policy of the European Union
  4.09 State aid
    4.09.01 Definition of aid
      4.09.01.03 Advantage conferred on an undertaking
        4.09.01.03.01 Private investor/private creditor test
          4.09.01.03.01.02 Loan and guarantee
4 Internal policy of the European Union
  4.09 State aid
    4.09.01 Definition of aid
      4.09.01.03 Advantage conferred on an undertaking
        4.09.01.03.01 Private investor/private creditor test
          4.09.01.03.01.02 Loan and guarantee
4 Internal policy of the European Union
  4.09 State aid
    4.09.04 Procedure for reviewing aid
      4.09.04.06 Formal investigation procedure


Citations of case-law or legislation

References in grounds of judgment

Operative part

Opinion

Information not available


Dates

Date of the lodging of the application initiating proceedings

  • 02/04/2010

Date of the Opinion

Information not available

Date of the hearing

Information not available

Date of delivery

20/09/2012


References

Publication in the Official Journal

Application: OJ C 161 from 19.06.2010, p.43

Judgment: OJ C 343 from 10.11.2012, p.14

Name of the parties

France v Commission

Notes on Academic Writings

  1. Berlin, Dominique: La Poste bénéficiait bien d'une garantie illimitée de l'État constitutive d'une aide d'État, La Semaine Juridique - édition générale 2012 nº 41 p.1833 (FR)
  2. Idot, Laurence: Notion d'aide, garantie de l'État et existence d'un avantage, Europe 2012 Novembre Comm. nº 11 p.39 (FR)
  3. Lombard, Martine ; Nicinski, Sophie ; Glaser, Emmanuel: Actualité du droit de la concurrence et de la régulation. Le rejet par le TUE du recours contre la décision de la Commission européenne relative à l'aide d'État résultant de « la garantie illimitée de l'État liée au statut d'établissement public » de La Poste révèle un glissement du débat, de la remise en cause du statut d'établissement public à celle du service public lui-même, L'actualité juridique ; droit administratif 2012 p.2313-2317 (FR)
  4. Arhel, Pierre: Activité des juridictions de l'Union européenne en droit de la concurrence (Septembre 2012) (1ère partie). TUE, 20 sept. 2012, no T-154/10, République française c/ Commission, Petites affiches. La Loi / Le Quotidien juridique 2012 nº 256 p.18-19 (FR)
  5. Aubert, Michel ; Broussy, Emmanuelle ; Cassagnabère, Hervé: Chronique de jurisprudence de la CJUE. Aide d'Etat - Statut d'EPIC - Garantie implicite, L'actualité juridique ; droit administratif 2013 p.341-342 (FR)
  6. Wiemer, Dirk T.: EuG: Staatliche Beihilfen - Beihilfe, die Frankreich in Form einer impliziten unbeschränkten Bürgschaft zugunsten von La Poste, aufgrund von deren Status als öffentliches Unternehmen, durchgeführt haben soll - Entscheidung, mit der die Beihilfe für mit dem Binnenmarkt unvereinbar erklärt wird - Nichtigkeitsklage - Rechtsschutzinteresse - Zulässigkeit - Beweislast für das Vorliegen einer staatlichen Beihilfe - Vorteil, Zeitschrift für Beihilfenrecht 2013 p.45 (DE)
  7. Nucara, Alessandro ; Gambaro, Edoardo: The La Poste Case: A Guaranteed EPIC Battle, European State Aid Law Quarterly 2013 p.568-574 (EN)
  8. Schramek, Séverine: Retour sur l’arrêt La Poste : une défiance envers les établissements publics ou un défi pour l’État acteur économique ?, Revue Lamy de la Concurrence : droit, économie, régulation 2013 nº 36 p.56-61 (FR)



Procedural Analysis Information

Source of the question referred for a preliminary ruling

Information not available

Subject-matter

  • Competition
  • - State aid

Provisions of national law referred to

Information not available

Provisions of international law referred to

Information not available

Procedure and result

  • Actions for annulment : dismissal on substantive grounds

Formation of the Court

sixième chambre (Tribunal)

Judge-Rapporteur

Wahl

Advocate General

Information not available

Language(s) of the Case

  • French

Language(s) of the Opinion

    Information not available