Judgment of the General Court of 24 October 2019 — Autostrada Wielkopolska v Commission
(Case T-778/17) 1
(State aid — Toll-motorway concession — Law providing for an exemption from tolls for certain vehicles — Compensation granted to the concession holder by the Member State for loss of revenue — Shadow toll — Decision declaring aid incompatible with the internal market and ordering its recovery — Procedural rights of the interested parties — Commission’s obligation to exercise particular vigilance — Concept of State aid — Advantage — Improvement of the concessionaire’s expected financial situation — Criterion of the private operator in a market economy — Article 107(3)(a) TFEU — Regional State aid)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicant: Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. (Poznań, Poland) (represented by: O. Geiss, D. Tayar and T. Siakka, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: L. Armati, K. Herrmann and S. Noë, acting as Agents)
Intervener in support of the defendant: Republic of Poland (represented by: B. Majczyna and M. Rzotkiewicz, acting as Agents)
Re:
Action under Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of Commission Decision (EU) 2018/556 of 25 August 2017 on the State aid SA.35356 (2013/C) (ex 2013/NN, ex 2012/N) implemented by Poland for Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. (OJ 2018 L 92, p. 19).
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;
Orders Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission;
Orders the Republic of Poland to bear its own costs.
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1 OJ C 32, 29.1.2018.