Case C‑245/16

Nerea SpA

v

Regione Marche

(Request for a preliminary ruling
from the Tribunale amministrativo regionale per le Marche)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling — State aid — Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 — General exemption by category — Scope — Article 1(6)(c) — Article 1(7)( c) — Concept of ‘undertaking in difficulty’ — Concept of ‘collective insolvency proceedings’ — Company granted State aid under a regional operational programme of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) subsequently admitted to an arrangement with creditors as a going concern — Withdrawal of the aid — Obligation to reimburse the advance paid)

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 6 July 2017

1. State aid—Prohibition—Exceptions—Categories of aid, defined by regulation, which may be regarded as compatible with the internal market—Regulation No 800/2008—Scope—Exclusion of aid granted to undertakings in difficulty—Concept of collective insolvency proceedings

   (Commission Regulation No 800/2008, Arts 1(6)(c) and (7)(c))

2. State aid—Prohibition—Exceptions—Regulation No 800/2008—Temporal application—Application depending on the date on which the aid was granted in accordance with the applicable national law

   (Art. 107(1) TFEU; Commission Regulation No 800/2008, Recital 36)

3. State aid—Prohibition—Exceptions—Categories of aid, defined by regulation, which may be regarded as compatible with the internal market—Regulation No 800/2008—Scope—Exclusion of aid granted to undertakings in difficulty—Aid granted to an undertaking subsequently subject to collective insolvency proceedings—Consequences—Withdrawal of the aid—Not included

   (Commission Regulation No 800/2008, Art. 1(6) and (7)(c))

1.  Article 1(7)(c) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in accordance with Articles [107 and 108 TFEU] (General block exemption Regulation) must be interpreted as meaning that the concept of ‘collective insolvency proceedings’ that it refers to covers all collective insolvency proceedings for undertakings provided for by national law, whether they are opened by the national administrative or judicial authorities of their own motion or on the initiative of the undertaking concerned.

   (see para. 29, operative part 1)

2.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 32, 33)

3.  Article 1(7)(c) of Regulation No 800/2008 must be interpreted as meaning that the fact that an undertaking satisfied the conditions for being subject to collective insolvency proceedings according to national law, which is for the referring court to establish, is sufficient to prevent State aid being granted to it under that regulation or, if such aid has already been granted to it, to hold that it could not be granted in accordance with that regulation provided that those conditions were satisfied on the date on which that aid was granted. However, aid granted to an undertaking in compliance with Regulation No 800/2008 and, in particular, Article 1(6) thereof, cannot be withdrawn solely on the ground that that undertaking has been subject to collective insolvency proceedings subsequent to the date on which that aid was granted to it.

   (see para. 39, operative part 2)