Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 26 November 2015 —
Comunidad Autónoma de Cataluña and CTTI v Commission
(Case T‑465/13)
State aid — Digital television — Aid for the deployment of digital terrestrial television in remote and less-urbanised areas in Spain — Decision declaring aid to be partly compatible and partly incompatible with the internal market —Advantage — Service of general economic interest — Article 107(3)(c) TFEU — New aid
1. Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Decision of the Commission addressed to a Member State and finding an aid incompatible with the internal market — Action by a regional authority having granted that aid — Admissibility (Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU) (see para. 34)
2. Actions for annulment — Admissibility criteria — Bringing of a single action by two applicants — Admissibility of the action of one of the applicants — No need to examine the admissibility of the action in relation to the second applicant (Art. 263 TFEU) (see para. 34)
3. State aid — Concept — Measures designed to compensate for the cost of public service missions undertaken by an undertaking — First condition set out in the Altmark judgment — Clearly defined public service obligations — No recipient undertaking actually entrusted with carrying out public service obligations — Inclusion in the concept (Arts 14 TFEU and 107(1) TFEU; Protocol No 26 annexed to the EU Treaties) (see paras 42, 50-52, 54, 57, 61, 63, 64)
4. State aid — Commission decision — Assessment of legality by reference to the information available at the time of adoption of the decision (Art. 107(1) TFEU) (see para. 62)
5. Competition — Undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest — Broadcasting sector — Determination of services of general economic interest — Distinction between the provision of a broadcasting service and the operation of broadcasting networks — Lawfulness (Art. 107(1) TFEU; Protocol No 29 annexed to the EU Treaties) (see paras 67, 68, 70, 71)
6. State aid — Commission decision — Judicial review — Assessment of the facts and evidence (see para. 72)
7. Competition — Undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest — Broadcasting sector — Definition of a networks operating service as a service of general economic interest — Condition — Compliance with the principle of technological neutrality (Arts 107(1) TFEU and 108 TFEU) (see paras 78-80)
8. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Correction of an error of reasoning during the proceedings before the Court — Not permissible (Art. 296 TFEU) (see para. 86)
9. State aid — Prohibition — Exceptions — Discretion of the Commission — Judicial review — Limits (Art. 107(3) TFEU) (see paras 97, 98, 103)
10. State aid — Examination by the Commission — Communication of the switchover to digital — Legal nature — Indicative rules of conduct implying a self-limitation on the Commission’s discretion (Arts 107(3) TFEU and 108 TFEU; Commission COM(2003) 541 final) (see para. 101)
11. State aid — Prohibition — Exceptions — Account taken of the situation existing at the time the measure adopted (Art. 107(3) TFEU) (see paras 106, 108, 109)
12. State aid — Administrative procedure — Compatibility of aid with the internal market — Burden of proof on the provider and the potential recipient of the aid (Art. 4(3) TEU; Art. 107(3) TFEU) (see para. 110)
13. State aid — Prohibition — Exceptions — Aid capable of being regarded as compatible with the internal market — Assessment in the light of Article 107(3)(c) TFEU — Taking into account previous practice — Exclusion (Art. 107(3)(c) TFEU) (see para. 111)
14. State aid — Examination by the Commission — Consecutive State interventions inseparably linked to each other — Assessment of the measures taken in their entirety — Lawfulness (Arts 107(3) TFEU and 108 TFEU) (see paras 115, 116)
15. State aid — Existing aid and new aid — Measure amending an existing aid scheme — Modification affecting the substance of the scheme — Classification of the scheme as new aid (Art. 108(1) TFEU; Council Regulation No 659/1999, Art. 1(c); Commission Regulation No 794/2004, Art. 4(1)) (see paras 128-132)
Re:
| APPLICATION for annulment of Commission Decision 2014/489/EU of 19 June 2013 on State aid SA.28599 [(C 23/2010) (ex NN 36/010, ex CP 163/2009)] implemented by the Kingdom of Spain for the deployment of digital terrestrial television in remote and less-urbanised areas (other than Castilla-La Mancha) (OJ 2014 L 217, p. 52). |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Comunidad Autónoma de Cataluña and Centre de Telecomunicacions i Tecnologies de la Informació de la Generalitat de Catalunya (CTTI) to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission and by SES Astra. |