Italian Republic and Brandt Italia SpA v Commission of the European Communities (T-239/04, T-323/04)

Judgment of 12 Sept 2007

law://eu/cjeu/2004/t-239-04/para_154@2026-11-13

154The Court considers it impossible in the present case that a diligent business operator like Brandt could fail to be aware of the unlawful nature of the measure at issue. The Court points out in that respect that it is settled case-law that, in view of the mandatory nature of the review of State aid by the Commission under Article 88 EC, undertakings to which aid has been granted may not, in principle, entertain a legitimate expectation that the aid is lawful unless it has been granted in compliance with the procedure (Commission v Germany, paragraph 14, and Alcan Deutschland, paragraph 25). A diligent business operator must normally be in a position to confirm that that procedure has been followed, even if the State in question was responsible for the unlawfulness of the decision to grant aid to such a degree that its revocation appears to be a breach of the principle of good faith (Alcan Deutschland, paragraph 41, and Case T-109/01 Fleuren Compost v Commission [2004] ECR II-127, paragraph 135).

Italian Republic and Brandt Italia SpA v Commission of the European Communities (T-239/04, T-323/04)

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