Judgment of the General Court of 17 July 2014 — Westfälisch-Lippischer Sparkassen- und Giroverband v Commission

(Case T-457/09) ¹

(State aid — Restructuring of WestLB — Aid to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State — Article 87(3)(b) EC — Decision declaring the aid compatible with the common market under certain conditions — Action for annulment — Individual concern — Legal interest in bringing proceedings — Admissibility — Collegiality — Obligation to state reasons — Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty — Proportionality — Principle of non-discrimination — Article 295 EC — Article 7(4) of Regulation (EC) No 659/1999)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Applicant: Westfälisch-Lippischer Sparkassen- und Giroverband (Münster, Germany) (represented initially by A. Rosenfeld and I. Liebach, and subsequently by A. Rosenfeld and O. Corzilius, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented initially by L. Flynn, K. Gross and B. Martenczuk, and subsequently by L. Flynn, B. Martenczuk and T. Maxian Rusche, acting as Agents)

Re:

Action for the annulment of Commission Decision 2009/971/EC of 12 May 2009 on State aid C 43/2008 (ex N 390/2008) which Germany proposes to grant towards the restructuring of WestLB AG (OJ 2009 L 345, p. 1).

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Rejects the Commission’s request for a declaration that there is no need to adjudicate;

Dismisses the action;

Orders Westfälisch-Lippischer Sparkassen- und Giroverband to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Commission, including the costs relating to the interim proceedings.

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¹ OJ C 11, 16.1.2010.