Action brought on 9 September 2011 - France v Commission

(Case T-478/11)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: French Republic (represented by: E. Belliard, G. de Bergues, J Gstalter and J. Rossi, acting as Agents)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

Annul the contested decision;

Order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

By its application, the applicant seeks annulment of Commission Decision C (2011) 4376 final of 29 June 2011 relating to State aid No NN 10/2010 concerning the action taken by the interprofession nationale porcine (French pig and pork producers association) ("INAPORC"), which is financed by "voluntary" contributions which have been made compulsory ("CVCs"), levied by INAPORC on the members it represents. The Commission considered the CVCs to be measures constituting State aid compatible with the internal market.

In support of the action, the applicant puts forward a single plea in law, alleging that the concept of State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TEU was misapplied when the Commission held that the action taken by INAPORC, using income deriving from the CVCs, was imputable to the State and was financed by State resources.

The applicant argues that the action taken by INAPORC, using income deriving from the CVCs, meets the requirements set by the Court of Justice in Case C-345/02 Pearle and Others [2004] ECR I-7139 if compulsory contributions levied by a body representing undertakings in an economic sector are not to be regarded as State resources which finance action imputable to the State, since:

the action taken by INAPORC is determined by the professional body which represents undertakings in the agricultural sector concerned and is not an instrument for implementing State policy;

the action taken by INAPORC is financed by means of resources collected from undertakings in the sector;

the financing arrangements and the percentage/quantity of the contributions is established within INAPORC without the State intervening in any way;

the contributions have to be used for financing the measure, there being no possibility for the State to intervene.

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