Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 28 January 2016 —
Slovenia v Commission
(Case T‑507/12)
State aid — Manufacture of leisure equipment — Restructuring aid — Decision declaring the aid to be incompatible with the internal market and ordering its recovery — Obligation to state reasons — Whether imputable to the State — Private investor test
1. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Commission decision on State aid — Decision on aid for restructuring firms in difficulty — Need to set out the facts and legal considerations of essential importance in the scheme of the decision — No requirement for a specific statement of reasons for each element raised by the persons concerned (Arts 107(1) TFEU and 296 TFEU) (see paras 23-25, 37)
2. 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. 53)
3. State aid — Concept — Aid granted to a public undertaking — Undertaking controlled by the State — Automatic imputability to the State of the aid measure — Exclusion — Set of indicators to be taken into consideration (Art. 107(1) TFEU) (see paras 64-72, 76, 77, 93, 102, 107, 109, 169)
4. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Decision in line with previous decisions — Need for an express statement of reasons only where the decision goes further than the earlier practice (Art. 296 TFEU) (see para. 133)
5. State aid — Concept — Assessment according to the criterion of the private investor — Complex evaluation of economic matters — Discretion of the Commission — Judicial review — Limits (Art. 107(1) TFEU) (see paras 190, 191, 220, 221, 224)
Re:
| APPLICATION for annulment of Commission Decision 2014/273/EU of 19 September 2012 on the measures SA.26379 (C 13/10) (ex NN 17/10) implemented by Slovenia in favour of Elan d.o.o. (OJ 2014 L 144, p. 1). |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders the Republic of Slovenia to pay the costs, including those incurred in the proceedings for interim measures. |