Judgment of the General Court of (Fourth Chamber) of 14 February 2012 - Electrolux and Whirlpool v Commission
(Joined Cases T 115/09 and T 116/09)
(State aid - Restructuring aid for a manufacturer of large home appliances notified by the French Republic - Decision declaring the aid compatible with the common market subject to conditions - Manifest errors of assessment - Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicants: Electrolux AB (Stockholm, Sweden) (represented by: F. Wijckmans and H. Burez, lawyers) (Case T-115/09); and Whirlpool Europe BV (Breda, Netherlands) (represented: initially by F. Tuytschaever and B. Bellen, and subsequently by H. Burez and F. Wijckmans, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: L. Flynn and C. Giolito, Agents)
Interveners in support of the defendant: French Republic (represented: initially by G. de Bergues and A.-L. Vendrolini, and subsequently by G. de Bergues and J. Gstalter, Agents); Fagor France SA (Rueil-Malmaison, France) (represented by J. Derenne and A. Müller-Rappard, lawyers)
Re:
Annulment of the Commission Decision of 21 October 2008 on State aid C 44/2007 (ex N 460/2007) which France is planning to implement for FagorBrandt (OJ 2009 L 160, p. 11.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls Commission Decision 2009/485/EC of 21 October 2008 on State aid No C 44/07 (ex N 460/07) which France is planning to implement for FagorBrandt;
Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay those of Electrolux AB and Whirlpool Europe BV;
Orders the French Republic and Fagor France SA to bear their own costs.
____________1 - OJ C 113, 16.5.2009.