Judgment of the General Court of 10 July 2012 - Smurfit Kappa Group v Commission
(Case T-304/08)
(State aid - Corrugated case materials - Aid for the construction of a paper mill - Guidelines on national regional aid - Decision declaring the aid compatible with the common market - Admissibility - Validity of the authority conferred by a legal person on its lawyers - Adoption of a decision upon conclusion of the preliminary examination phase - Standing to bring proceedings - Procedural rights of interested parties - Serious difficulties justifying the initiation of the formal investigation procedure - Exercise by the Commission of its discretion - Article 87(3)(a) EC - Article 88(2) and (3) EC - Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 - Article 44(5) and (6) of the Rules of Procedure)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicant: Smurfit Kappa Group plc (Dublin, Ireland) (represented by: T. Ottervanger and E. Henny, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: B. Martenczuk and C. Urraca Caviedes, Agents)
Intervener in support of the defendant: Propapier PM 2 GmbH, formerly Propapier PM2 GmbH & Co. KG (Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany) (represented by: H.-J. Niemeyer and C. Herrmann, lawyers)
Re:
Action for annulment of Commission Decision C(2008) 1107 of 2 April 2008 declaring compatible with the common market the national regional aid which the German authorities intend to grant to Propapier PM2 for the construction of a paper mill in Eisenhüttenstadt (region of Brandenburg-Nordost) (State aid N 582/2007 - Germany).
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls Commission Decision C(2008) 1107 of 2 April 2008 declaring compatible with the common market the national regional aid which the German authorities intend to grant to Propapier PM2 for the construction of a paper mill in Eisenhüttenstadt (region of Brandenburg-Nordost) (State aid N 582/2007 - Germany);
Orders the European Commission and Propapier PM 2 GmbH to pay the costs.
____________1 - OJ C 272, 25.10.2008.