Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber) of 29 April 2021.Achemos Grupė UAB and Achema AB v European Commission.Appeal – State aid – Decision not to raise any objections – Article 108 TFUE – Rights of the interested parties – Principle of sound administration – Diligent and impartial investigation – Scope of the review by the General Court – Obligation to state reasons.Case C-847/19 P.

Judgment // 29/04/2021 // 2 min read
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Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber) of 29 April 2021 – Achemos Grupė and Achema v Commission

(Case C‑847/19 P) ( 1 )

(Appeal – State aid – Decision not to raise any objections – Article 108 TFUE – Rights of the interested parties – Principle of sound administration – Diligent and impartial investigation – Scope of the review by the General Court – Obligation to state reasons)

  1. State aid – Examination by the Commission – No observations by the persons concerned – Not relevant to the validity of the Commission decision – Obligation to examine matters not expressly invoked by the Commission’s own motion – None

(Art. 108(2) TFEU)

(see paras 45-47)

  1. State aid – Examination of complaints – Obligations of the Commission – Examination of matters not expressly raised by the complainant of the Commission’s own motion

(Art.108 TFEU)

(see paras 48-50)

  1. State aid – Administrative procedure – Obligations of the Commission – Diligent and impartial examination – Account taken of the most complete and reliable information possible – Scope of the obligation

(Art. 108(2) TFEU)

(see paras 51-53)

  1. Appeal – Grounds – Inadequate statement of reasons – Scope of the obligation to state reasons – Obligation for the General Court to clearly and unequivocally disclose its reasoning

(Art. 256(1), 2d al., TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 36 and 53, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 117(m))

(see paras 60, 63-66)

Operative part

The Court:

  1. Dismisses the main appeal;

  2. Declares that there is no need to adjudicate on the cross-appeal;

  3. Orders Achemos Grupė UAB and Achema AB to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission in respect of the main appeal;

  4. Orders Achemos Grupė UAB, Achema AB and the Commission to bear their own costs in respect of the cross-appeal;

  5. Orders the Republic of Lithuania and Klaipėdos Nafta AB to bear their own costs in respect of both the main appeal and the cross-appeal.

( 1 ) OJ C 19, 20.1.2020.

State aids , Competition