Judgment_paragraph 42 · Azienda Sanitaria Provinciale di Catania v Assessorato della Salute della Regione Siciliana (C-128/19)

42Regulation No 702/2014, which was adopted pursuant to Article 108(4) TFEU, provides, in Article 3, that, notwithstanding the general obligation to notify each measure intended to grant or alter ‘new aid’ within the meaning of Article 108(3) TFEU, which constitutes one of the fundamental features of the system of monitoring in the field of State aid, a Member State may, under that regulation, rely on the exemption from that requirement if an aid measure which it adopted or an aid project which it plans to adopt fulfils the conditions laid down therein. As a qualification of that general obligation, those conditions must be interpreted strictly. Conversely, the notification and standstill requirements laid down in Article 108(3) TFEU remain applicable to State aid not covered by Regulation No 702/2014 (see, by analogy, judgment of 5 March 2019, Eesti Pagar, C‑349//17, EU:C:2019:172, paragraphs 59, 60 and 86 and the case-law cited).