Opinions nº C-214/07 of Court of Justice of the European Communities, of June 12, 2008

1.         In these proceedings under Article 88(2) EC, the Commission contends that France, in failing to recover sums accorded to companies taking over the activities of firms in difficulty, has failed to implement Commission Decision 2004/343/EC ( 2 ) (-the decision-) within the prescribed time period. The Commission therefore seeks a declaration that France is in breach of its obligations under Articles 5 and 6 of that decision, the fourth paragraph of Article 249 EC and Article 10 EC.

2.         France contests neither the decision which declared the State aids in question illegal, nor that it is in principle obliged to recover them. It nevertheless maintains that it is not in breach of its obligations under Community law.

3.         France-s defence is that its authorities have done all that they can to recover the aid concerned, and that to ask them to recover the aid any faster would be to demand the impossible. That is particularly the case where the companies which received the aid have subsequently ceased to trade, or have sold their assets.

 Legal framework

 Treaty provisions

4.         Article 10 EC provides:

-Member States shall take all appropriate measures, whether general or particular, to ensure fulfilment of the obligations arising out of this Treaty or resulting from action taken by the institutions of the Community. They shall facilitate the achievement of the Community-s tasks.

They shall abstain from any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of the objectives of this Treaty.-

5.         Article 87(1) EC sets out the conditions under which a State aid i...

If you are already a vLex customer, Access Here