Judgment_paragraph 39 · European Commission v Council of the European Union (C-111/10)

39Thus, it first held, after recalling the central role which the FEU Treaty reserves for the Commission in determining whether aid is incompatible with the internal market, that the third subparagraph of Article 108(2) TFEU covers an exceptional and specific case, meaning that the power conferred upon the Council by that provision is clearly exceptional in character (see, to that effect, Case C-110/02 Commission v Council [2004] ECR I-6333, paragraphs 29 to 31) and, accordingly, that the third subparagraph of Article 108(2) TFEU must necessarily be interpreted strictly (see, by analogy, Case C-510/08 Mattner [2010] ECR I-3553, paragraph 32, and Case C‑419/11 Česká spořitelna [2013] ECR, paragraph 26).