Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 16 October 2013 —
TF1 v Commission
(Case T‑275/11)
State aid — Public service broadcasting — Aid proposed by the French authorities for France Télévisions — Annual budgetary grant — Decision declaring the aid compatible with the internal market — Article 106(2) TFEU — Strict interdependence of a tax and an aid measure
1. State aid — Provisions of the Treaty — Scope — Taxes constituting the method of financing an aid measure — No strict interdependence between the tax and the financing of the aid concerned — Exclusion (Arts 107 TFEU and 108 TFEU) (see paras 41-44, 47, 57, 69, 81, 86)
2. Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Abstract statement — Inadmissibility (Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 21, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 44(1)(c)) (see paras 94-99, 113)
3. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Commission decision on State aid (Art. 296 TFEU) (see paras 104-109)
4. Judicial proceedings — Measures of organisation of procedure — Request for production of documents — Obligations of the applicant (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 64(3)(d), and (4)) (see paras 115-120)
5. State aid — Concept — Measures designed to offset the cost of public service tasks assumed by an undertaking — Not included — Conditions set out in the Altmark judgment (Arts 106(2) TFEU and 107(1) TFEU) (see paras 124-128)
6. State aid — Concept — Measures designed to offset the cost of public service tasks assumed by an undertaking — Distinction between the Altmark test, designed to determine the existence of aid, and the test under Article 106(2) TFEU, enabling the compatibility of aid with the internal market to be established (Arts 106(2) TFEU and 107(1) TFEU) (see para. 129)
7. Competition — Undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest — Subject to the treaty rules — Assessment of the compatibility of State financing with the common market — Assessment having regard to the cost borne by the undertaking in providing the service, independently of its economic efficiency (Art. 106(2) TFEU) (see paras 130‑134, 138, 139, 153)
Re:
| APPLICATION for annulment of Commission Decision 2011/140/EU of 20 July 2010 on State Aid C 27/09 (ex N 34/B/09) Budgetary grant for France Télévisions which the French Republic plans to implement in favour of France Télévisions (OJ 2011 L 59, p. 44). |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Télévision française 1 (TF1) to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission and by France Télévisions; |
3. | | Orders the Kingdom of Spain and the French Republic each to bear its own costs. |