Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Aid granted by States - Concept - Aid granted through the intermediary of a state-controlled body - Inclusion (EEC Treaty, Art. 92(1))

2. Aid granted by States - Concept - Financial assistance granted to an undertaking by a Member State - Assessment criterion - Reasonable nature of the operation for a private investor pursuing a medium or long-term policy (EEC Treaty, Art. 92(1))

3. Aid granted by States - Effect on trade between Member States - Impairment of competition - Aid granted to an undertaking operating in a sector where there is surplus production capacity and effective competition (EEC Treaty, Art. 92(1))

4. Aid granted by States - Recovery of unlawful aid - Obligation flowing from the unlawful nature of the aid (EEC Treaty, Art. 93(2))

Summary

1. In order to determine whether aid may be regarded as State aid within the meaning of Article 92(1) of the Treaty, no distinction should be drawn between cases where aid is granted directly by the State and cases where it is granted by public or private bodies established or appointed by the State to administer the aid.

2. In order to determine whether intervention by the public authorities in the capital of an undertaking, in whatever form, may constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 92 of the Treaty, it is necessary to consider whether in similar circumstances a private investor of a size comparable to that of the bodies administering the public sector might have provided capital of such an amount.

Although the conduct of a private investor with which the intervention of the public investor pursuing economic policy aims must be compared need not be the conduct of an ordinary investor laying out capital with a view to realizing a profit in the relatively short term, it must at least be the conduct of a private holding company or a private group of undertakings pursuing a structural policy - whether general or sectoral - and guided by prospects of profitability in the longer term.

3. Where an undertaking operates in a sector in which there is surplus production capacity and producers from various Member States compete, any aid which it may receive from the public authorities is liable to affect trade between the Member States and impair competition, inasmuch as its continuing presence on the market prevents competitors from other Member States from increasing their market share and reduces their chances of increasing their exports to that Member State.

4. The obligation to recover State aid declared unlawful is the logical consequence of a finding by the Commission that it is unlawful.