Judgment of the General Court of 16 September 2013 – Iliad and Others v Commission
(Case T-325/10) 1
(State Aid – Compensation for public service costs in connection with a very high-speed broadband electronic communications network in the Hauts-de-Seine department – Decision finding no State aid – Failure to initiate the formal investigation procedure – Serious difficulties – Altmark judgment – Service of general economic interest – Market failure – Overcompensation)
Language of the case: French
Parties
Applicants: Iliad (Paris, France); Free infrastructure (Paris); and Free (Paris) (represented by: T. Cabot, lawyer)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: B. Stromsky and C. Urraca Caviedes, acting as Agents)
Interveners in support of the defendant: The French Republic (represented: initially by G. de Bergues and J. Gstalter, and subsequently by D. Colas and J. Bousin, acting as Agents); the Republic of Poland (represented initally by M. Szpunar and B. Majczyna, and subsequently by B. Majczyna, acting as Agents); the Hauts-de-Seine department (France) (represented by: J.-D. Bloch and G. O’Mahony, lawyers)
Re:
Application for annulment of Commission Decision C(2009) 7426 final of 30 September 2009 concerning the compensation for public service costs for the establishment and operation of a very high-speed broadband electronic communications network in the Hauts-de-Seine department (State Aid N 331/2008 – France).
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;
Orders Iliad, Free infrastructure and Free to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission;
Orders the Hauts-de-Seine department, the French Republic and the Republic of Poland to pay their own costs.
________________________1 OJ C 288, 23.10.2010.