ECLI:EU:T:2003:217

«(State aid – Actions for annulment – Decision terminating a review procedure initiated under Article 88(2) EC – Concept of State aid – Purchase of services by the State at the market price – Aid having a social character granted without discrimination related to the origin of the products concerned – Failure to order a Member State to produce the necessary information – Obligation to repay aid – Legitimate expectations of recipients – Statement of reasons)» Summary of the Judgment 1.. State aid – Unnotified aid – Acceptance by the Commission of the notification of a new agreement between recipient and grantor – No effect on the unlawfulness of the aid (Art. 88(3) EC) 2.. Procedure – Force of res judicata attaching to a judgment – Scope – Inadmissibility of a second action – Conditions – Same parties, subject-matter and grounds in both actions 3.. State aid – Definition – Purchases from an undertaking – Assessment on the basis of the private investor test – State aid excluded only in the case of a normal commercial transaction (Art. 87 EC) 4.. Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope (Art. 253 EC) 5.. State aid – Commission decision finding aid which has not been notified incompatible with the common market – Obligation to state reasons – Scope (Art. 88(3) EC) 6.. EC Treaty – Systems of property ownership – Principle of neutrality – Limits – Bound by the fundamental rules of the Treaty – No effect on the scope of the concept of State aid (Arts 87(1) EC and 295 EC) 7.. State aid – Prohibited – Derogations – Aid which may be considered compatible with the common market – Aid having a social character – Conditions (Art. 87(2)(a) EC) 8.. State aid – Recovery of unlawful aid – Aid granted in breach of the procedural rules in Article 88 EC – Possibility of legitimate expectation on the part of recipients only – Protection – Conditions and limits (Arts 87 EC and 88 EC) 9.. Community law – Principles – Need for judicial review – Recovery of unlawful aid notwithstanding the requirements of legal certainty (Arts 88 EC, 220 EC, 230, first para., EC and 233 EC; Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union, Art. 47; European Convention on Human Rights, Arts 6 and 13) 10.. State aid – Review by the Commission – Initiation of formal review procedure – Maximum period of two months – Inapplicable in the case of unnotified aid (Art. 88(2) and (3) EC; Council Regulation No 659/1999, Art. 4(6)) 11.. State aid – Proposed aid – Implementation before the final decision of the Commission – Commission decision ordering repayment of the aid – Obligation to state reasons – Scope (Art. 88(3) EC) JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (First Chamber, Extended Composition)5 August 2003 (1) ((State aid – Actions for annulment – Decision terminating a review procedure initiated under Article 88(2) EC – Concept of State aid – Purchase of services by the State at the market price – Aid having a social character granted without discrimination related to the origin of the products concerned – Failure to order a Member State to produce the necessary information – Obligation to refund aid – Legitimate expectations of recipients – Statement of reasons)) applicant in Case T-116/01 and intervener in Case T-118/01 in support of the Diputación Foral de Vizcaya, applicant in Case T-118/01 and intervener in Case T-116/01 in support of P&O European Ferries (Vizcaya) SA, v defendant, THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (First Chamber, Extended Composition), having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 4 February 2003, gives the following On those grounds, THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (First Chamber, Extended Composition), Vesterdorf Lenaerts Azizi Jaeger Legal H. Jung B. Vesterdorf Registrar President 1 – Languages of the case: Spanishand English.