Republic of Austria v European Commission (C-594/18 P)
law://eu/cjeu/2018/c-594-18/para_119@2026-11-14
Key facts
Court
Court of Justice · Grand Chamber
Case
C-594/18 P · ECLI:EU:C:2020:742
Decided
22 Sept 2020
Procedure
Action for annulment
Applicant
Republic of Austria
Defendant
European Commission
Rapporteur
I. Jarukaitis
Advocate General
G. Hogan
Bench
15 judgesK. Lenaerts, R. Silva de Lapuerta, A. Arabadjiev, A. Prechal, M. Vilaras, M. Safjan, S. Rodin, L.S. Rossi, I. Jarukaitis, T. von Danwitz, C. Toader, D. Šváby, K. Jürimäe, C. Lycourgos, N. Piçarra
119First, the General Court correctly pointed out that operating aid cannot, in principle, satisfy the conditions for application of Article 107(3)(c) TFEU as such aid, given that it does no more than maintain an existing situation or lower the usual ongoing operating expenditure which an undertaking would have had to bear in any event in the course of its normal business, cannot be regarded as being intended to facilitate the development of an economic activity and is such as to affect trading conditions adversely to an extent contrary to the common interest (see, to that effect, judgments of 6 November 1990, Italy v Commission, C‑86/89, EU:C:1990:373, paragraph 18; of 5 October 2000, Germany v Commission, C‑288/96, EU:C:2000:537, paragraphs 88 to 91; and of 21 July 2011, Freistaat Sachsen and Land Sachsen-Anhalt v Commission, C‑459/10 P, not published, EU:C:2011:515, paragraphs 33 to 36).