Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 15 October 2018 –
Vereniging Gelijkberechtiging Grondbezitters and Others v Commission

(Case T‑79/16)

(State aid — Aid scheme relating to the subsidised acquisition or free granting of nature land — Decision declaring the aid compatible with the internal market at the end of the preliminary examination stage — No formal investigation procedure — Locus standi — Notion of interested party — Admissibility — Infringement of procedural rights — Serious difficulties — Substantial effect on the competitive position of the competing undertakings)

State aid — Planned aid — Examination by the Commission — Preliminary review and main review — Compatibility of the aid with the common market — Difficulties of assessment — Commission’s duty to initiate the main review procedure — Meaning — Serious difficulties — Objective nature — Duration of the preliminary procedure no able to show in itself the existence of such difficulties — Insufficiency or incompleteness of the examination by the Commission at the time of the preliminary investigation procedure

Elements such as to show the existence of serious difficulties (Art. 108(2) and (3) TFEU; Council Regulation No 659/1999, Art. 4(3))

(see paras 49, 88-95, 100, 101, 107, 108, 127, 140)

Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Commission decision finding State aid compatible with the internal market without opening the formal investigation procedure — Action by interested parties within the meaning of Article 108(2) TFEU — Action designed to safeguard the procedural rights of the persons concerned — Action by a competing undertaking having seen its market position affected by the aid — Admissibility

(Arts 108(2) and (3) and 263, fourth para., TFEU; Council Regulation No 659/1999, Arts 1(h) and 4(3))

(see paras 50-73)

3.	Actions for annulment — Admissibility criteria — Natural or legal persons — Action brought by several applicants against the same decision — Capacity to act of one of them — Admissibility of the action as a whole (Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU) (see paras 75, 76)

Re:

Application based on Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of Commission Decision C(2015) 5929 final of 2 September 2015 on State Aid SA.27301 (2015/NN) — Netherlands in connection with the subsidised acquisition or free granting of nature land, a summary of which was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ 2006 C 9, p. 1).

Operative part

The Court:

1.	Annuls Commission Decision C(2015) 5929 final of 2 September 2015 on State Aid SA.27301 (2015/NN) — Netherlands in connection with the subsidised acquisition or free granting of nature land;

2.	Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by Vereniging Gelijkberechtiging Grondbezitters and the other applicants whose names are listed in Annex I;

3.	Orders Vereniging tot Behoud van Natuurmonumenten in Nederland and the other interveners whose names are listed in Annex II to bear their own costs.