Judgment_paragraph 52 · Italian Republic v Commission of the European Communities (C-310/99)

52The conditions with which aid must comply in order to be compatible with the common market are spelled out in the exceptions laid down in Article 87(2) and (3) EC. In that connection, it should be borne in mind that the Commission may adopt a policy as to how it will exercise its discretion in the form of measures such as guidelines, in so far as those measures contain rules indicating the approach which the institution is to take and do not depart from the rules of the Treaty (see, in particular, Case C-288/96 Germany v Commission [2000] ECR I-8237, paragraph 62; see also, to that effect, Case C-313/90 CIRFS and Others v Commission [1993] ECR I-1125, paragraphs 34 and 36, and France v Commission, cited above, paragraph 45). It follows that, although those rules, setting out the approach which the Commission proposes to follow, certainly help to ensure that it acts in a manner which is transparent, foreseeable and consistent with legal certainty, they cannot bind the Court. However, they may form a useful point of reference (see, to that effect, Case C-387/97 Commission v Greece [2000] ECR I-5047, paragraphs 87 and 89).

Italian Republic v Commission of the European Communities (C-310/99)

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