Action brought on 23 June 2011 - Régie Networks and NRJ Global v Commission

(Case T-340/11)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicants: Régie Networks (Lyon, France) and NRJ Global (Paris, France) (represented by: B. Geneste and C. Vannini, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant submits that the Court should:

establish the liability of the European Union for:

the European Commission's unlawful decision of 10 November 1997 concerning State aid N 679/97;

the Commission's failure to act following the formal establishment of that unlawfulness in the letter addressed to the French authorities on 8 May 2003;

order the European Commission to compensate in full for the loss resulting for the applicants from the wrongful acts referred to in the application, which loss encompasses:

the amount of the tax paid for the period from 1 January 1998 to 31 December 2000;

the fees incurred for the legal proceedings brought in order to obtain reimbursement of the tax paid for the period from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2002;

the fees incurred for the present legal proceedings;

order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on two pleas in law.

First plea in law, alleging wrongful acts committed due to the unlawfulness of the Commission decision of 10 November 1997. In examining the radio broadcasting aid scheme in 1997, the Commission declared it to be compatible with the Treaty rules, without examining the manner in which that aid scheme was financed, which it was however required to do according to the Court of Justice's well-established case-law in the area, since the financing was an integral part of the aid scheme in question. The decision thus adopted by the Commission is unlawful and is a wrongful act entailing non-contractual liability on the part of the European Union.

Second plea in law, alleging infringement of the principle of sound administration resulting from the Commission's failure, in 2003, to compensate for the harmful effects of its 1997 decision. The Commission found that its decision of 19 November 1997 was unlawful at the latest on 8 May 2003, when it addressed a letter to the French authorities, stating that the detailed rules for financing the radio broadcasting aid scheme, as approved most recently by the decision of 10 November 1997, were contrary to the Treaty rules. However, the Commission did not take any measures to remedy the unlawful situation thus established. It is on that basis that the applicants consider that the Commission's failure to compensate for the harmful effects of the unlawful decision of 1997 infringes the principle of sound administration, which is a general principle of European Union law, and is therefore such as to entail liability on the part of the European Union.

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