Case C‑262/12

Association Vent De Colère! Fédération nationale andOthers

v

Ministre de l’Écologie, du Développement durable, des Transports et du Logement andMinistre de l’Économie, des Finances et de l’Industrie

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d’État (France))

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — State aid — Concept of ‘intervention by the State or through State resources’ — Wind-generated electricity — Obligation to purchase at a price higher than the market price — Offsetting in full — Charges payable by final consumers of electricity’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber), 19 December 2013

1. State aid — Concept — Grant of advantages attributable to the State — No transfer of State resources — No effect — Supremacy of the criterion of public control over such an advantage

   (Art. 107(1) TFEU)

2. State aid — Concept — Aid from State resources — Offsetting of the additional costs imposed on undertakings because of an obligation to purchase wind-generated electricity at a price higher than the market price — Financing borne by final consumers — Charges managed by a public entity under a mandate from the State — Included

   (Art. 107(1) TFEU)

3. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Interpretation — Temporal effects of judgments by way of interpretation — Retroactive effect — Limitation by the Court — Legal certainty — Discretion of the Court — Conditions not satisfied

   (Art. 267 TFEU)

1.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 15-21)

2.  Article 107(1) TFEU must be interpreted as meaning that constitutes an intervention through State resources, a mechanism for offsetting in full the additional costs imposed on undertakings because of an obligation to purchase wind-generated electricity at a price higher than the market price that is financed by all final consumers of electricity in the national territory, where the amount of the charge imposed on each final consumer of electricity is determined annually by the public authorities of the Member State concerned; where if no decision is made by those authorities, the amount of the charge is increased automatically each year; and where an administrative penalty is provided for in the event of a consumer’s failure to pay the charge.

   Funds financed through compulsory charges imposed by the legislation of a Member State, managed and apportioned in accordance with the provisions of that legislation, may be regarded as State resources within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU even if they are managed by entities separate from the public authorities. That applies in the case of a Caisse des dépôts et consignations, which, under a mandate from the State concerned, centralises the sums collected before paying them out to the operators concerned, thereby acting as an intermediary in the management of those funds; which may, in addition, invest the charges collected, deducting the remuneration from those investments from the amount of the charges payable for the following year; and which does not make any profits from that activity, while its management costs are set off against the charges paid by final consumers of electricity. In those circumstances, the sums thus managed must be regarded as remaining under public control.

   (see paras 23-25, 28, 30-33, 37, operative part)

3.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 39-43)