Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 12 November 2013 —
Deutsche Post v Commission
(Case T‑570/08 RENV)
State aid — Postal service — Decision requiring the production of information — Appropriateness of the time-limit — Obligation to state reasons — Relevance of the information requested
1. Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Interest in bringing proceedings — Action capable of procuring a benefit for the party bringing it — Need for an actual and current interest — Action against the Commission direction to provide information in the context of a formal State aid examination procedure — Adoption during the court proceedings of the decision to terminate the procedure concerning the aid — Whether interest in bringing proceedings for annulment of the direction maintained (Art. 230 EC) (see paras 41, 42, 44‑47)
2. State aid — Examination by the Commission — Opening of a formal examination procedure — Commission direction to provide information — Determination of the time allowed — Account to be taken of the extent and difficulty of the information requested and the circumstances of the case — No breach of principle of proportionality (Council Regulation No 659/1999, Arts 10(3), and 13(1)) (see paras 83‑85, 93)
3. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Commission direction to provide information in the context of a formal State aid examination procedure (Art. 253 TFEU; Council Regulation No 659/1999, Art. 10) (see paras 96‑99, 111, 112)
4. Judicial proceedings — Introduction of new pleas during the proceedings — Plea raised for the first time at the reply stage — Inadmissibility (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 48(2)) (see paras 114, 115)
5. State aid — Examination by the Commission — Opening of a formal examination procedure — Commission direction to provide information — Requirement of relevance and for a link of necessity between the information requested and the infringement under investigation — Duty to comply with the principle of proportionality (Arts 87 EC and 88 EC) (see paras 118‑120, 145, 146, 154)
6. Actions for annulment — Pleas in law — Misuse of powers — Concept (Art. 230, second para., EC) (see para. 142)
7. State aid — Concept — Granting of an advantage to beneficiaries — Need to take account of the effects of a measure in order to determine the advantage of the beneficiary (Art. 87(1) EC) (see para. 158)
8. Acts of the institutions — Temporal application — Retrospective effect of a substantive rule — Conditions (see para. 166)
9. State aid — Examination by the Commission — Compatibility of the aid with the common market — Assessment of the compatibility of unnotified aid having regard to rules applicable at the time of its adoption — No breach of the principle of legal certainty — No breach of the principle of non-retroactivity (Arts 87 EC and 88 EC) (see paras 167, 169)
10. State aid — Examination by the Commission — Opening of a formal examination procedure — Commission direction to provide information — Taking into account previous practice — Exclusion (Art. 87(1) EC) (see paras 176, 177, 181)
Re:
| APPLICATION for annulment of the Commission’s decision of 30 October 2008, requiring information to be provided in the proceedings relating to State aid to Deutsche Post AG [C 36/2007 (ex NN 25/2007)]. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Deutsche Post AG to pay the costs. |