Judgment of the General Court of 17 March 2015 — Pollmeier Massivholz v Commission
(Case T-89/09) 1
(State aid — State measures concerning the establishment of a sawmill in the Land of Hessen — Action for annulment — Letter sent to the complainants — Act not amenable to review — Inadmissibility — Decision finding no State aid — Failure to initiate the formal investigation procedure — Serious difficulties — Calculation of the aid element of State guarantees — Commission Notice on State aid in the form of guarantees — Undertaking in difficulty — Sale of public land — Rights of the defence — Obligation to state reasons)
Language of the case: German
Parties
Applicant: Pollmeier Massivholz GmbH & Co. KG (Creuzburg, Germany) (represented by: initially J. Heithecker and F. von Alemann, then J. Heithecker, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: C. Urraca Caviedes and F. Erlbacher, acting as Agents)
Intervener in support of the defendant: Land Hessen (Germany) (represented by: U. Soltész and P. Melcher, lawyers)
Re:
Application for annulment, first, of Commission Decision C(2008) 6017 final of 21 October 2008, State aid No 512/2007 — Germany, Abalon Hardwood Hessen GmbH, and, second, of the decision allegedly contained in letter D/55056 of the Commission of 15 December 2008 concerning the State aid procedure CP 195/2007 — Abalon Hardwood Hessen GmbH.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls Commission Decision C(2008) 6017 final of 21 October 2008, State aid No 512/2007 — Germany, Abalon Hardwood Hessen GmbH in so far as it concluded that the State guarantees granted by the Land Hessen do not constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) EC;
Dismisses the action as to the remainder;
Orders Pollmeier Massivholz GmbH & Co. KG to bear four-fifths of its own costs, four-fifths of the costs of the European Commission and four-fifths of the costs of the Land Hessen;
Orders the Commission to bear one-fifth of its own costs and one-fifth of the costs of Pollmeier Massivholz;
Orders the Land Hessen to bear one-fifth of its own costs.
________________________1 OJ C 129, 6.6.2009.