Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 31 January 2013 — Spain v Commission
(Case T‑540/10)
Cohesion Fund — Reduction of the financial assistance initially granted from the Cohesion Fund to four project stages concerning the construction of certain sections of the high-speed line linking Madrid and the French border — Time limit for adopting a decision — Article H(2) of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 — Article 18(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1386/2002 — Additional works or services — Concept of ‘unforeseen circumstances’ — Article 20(2)(f) of Directive 93/38/EEC
1. Economic, social and territorial cohesion — Structural assistance — Community financing granted for national projects — Regulation No 1164/94 — Suspension or reduction of financial assistance following irregularities — No provision for a time limit for adoption of the Commission’s decision (Council Regulation No 1164/94, Annex II, Article H(2)) (see para. 29)
2. European Union law — Interpretation — Texts in several languages — Uniform interpretation — Consideration of different language versions (see paras 29, 30)
3. European Union law — Interpretation — Methods — Interpretation of an implementing regulation having regard to the basic regulation (see para. 34)
4. Approximation of laws — Procedure for awarding public contracts in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors — Directive 93/38 — Award of contracts — Principles of equal treatment of tenderers and transparency — Scope — Modification by the awarding body, after the award, of one of its conditions — Not permissible (Council Directive 93/38, Art. 4(2) and 20(2)(f)) (see paras 42-45, 49-52, 60-65)
5. Approximation of laws — Procedure for awarding public contracts in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors — Directive 93/38 — Derogations from common rules — Restrictive interpretation — Recourse to the negotiated procedure — Limits (Council Directive 93/38) (see paras 54, 55)
6. Acts of the institutions — Directives — Implementation by Member States — Need for full transposition into national law — Failure to fulfil obligations — National system pleaded as justification — Not permissible (Art 258 TFEU; Council Directive 93/38) (see para. 56)
7. Approximation of laws — Procedure for awarding public contracts in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors — Directive 93/38 — Awarding of public contracts — Modifications made to the provisions of a public contract in the course of its validity — Concept of substantial modification (Council Directive 93/38) (see para. 63)
8. Approximation of laws — Procedure for awarding public contracts in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors — Directive 93/38 — Derogations from common rules — Restrictive interpretation — Existence of unforeseen circumstances — Burden of proof (Council Directive 93/38, Art. 20(2) (see paras 74-84, 89-95, 99-112)
Re:
| APPLICATION, principally, for annulment of Commission Decision C(2010) 6154 of 13 September 2010 reducing the assistance granted from the Cohesion Fund to the project stages ‘Línea de Alta Velocidad Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona-Frontera francesa. Tramo Lleida-Martorell (Plataforma). Subtramo IX‑A’ (CCI No 2001.ES.16.C.PT.005), ‘Línea de Alta Velocidad Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona-Frontera francesa. Tramo Lleida-Martorell (Plataforma). Subtramo X‑B (Avinyonet del Penedés-Sant Sadurní d’Anoia’ (CCI No 2001.ES.16.C.PT.008), ‘Línea de Alta Velocidad Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona-Frontera francesa. Tramo Lleida-Martorell (Plataforma). Subtramo XI-A and XI-B (Sant Sadurní d’Anoia-Gelida) (CCI No 2001.ES.16.C.PT.009), ‘Línea de Alta Velocidad Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona-Frontera francesa. Tramo Lleida-Martorell (Plataforma). Subtramo IX-C’ (CCI No 2001.ES.16.C.PT.0010) and, alternatively, application to have that decision annulled in part in so far as it refers to the corrections applied to the amendments arising from the exceeding of the noise thresholds (Subsection IX-A), the change of PGOU (General Urban Development Plan) of the Ayuntamiento de Santa Oliva (Spain) (Subsection IX‑A) and the differences in the geotechnical conditions (Subsections X‑B. XI‑A, XI‑B and IX‑C), reducing the amount of the corrections decided by the Commission by EUR 2 348 201.96. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs. |