23.6.2007   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 140/19


Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 3 May 2007 — Freistaat Sachsen v Commission

(Case T-357/02) (1)

(State aid - Aid granted by the authorities of the Free State of Saxony - Aid scheme for small and medium-sized enterprises - Accelerated clearance procedure - Application ratione temporis of the Community guidelines and of the exempting regulation concerning aid to small and medium-sized enterprises - Aid scheme notified before the entry into force of the exempting regulation - Legitimate expectations - Legal certainty - Complete notification)

(2007/C 140/29)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Applicant: Freistaat Sachsen (Germany) (represented by: T. Lübbig, lawyer)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities (represented by: V. Kreuschitz and J. Flett, Agents)

Re:

Action for annulment of the second paragraph of Article 2 and of Articles 3 and 4 of Commission Decision 2003/226/EC of 24 September 2002 on an aid scheme which the Federal Republic of Germany is planning to implement — ‘Guidelines on assistance for SMEs — Improving business efficiency in Saxony’: Subprogrammes 1 (Coaching), 4 (Participation in fairs), 5 (Cooperation) and 7 (Design promotion) (OJ 2003 L 91, p. 13),

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.

Annuls the second paragraph of Article 2 and Articles 3 and 4 of Commission Decision 2003/226/EC of 24 September 2002 on an aid scheme which the Federal Republic of Germany is planning to implement — ‘Guidelines on assistance for SMEs — Improving business efficiency in Saxony’: Subprogrammes 1 (Coaching), 4 (Participation in fairs), 5 (Cooperation) and 7 (Design promotion);

2.

Orders the Commission of the European Communities to pay the costs.


(1)  OJ C 31, 8.2.2003.