21.1.2019

Official Journal of the European Union

C 25/51

(Case T-674/18)

(2019/C 25/66)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Applicant: Vattenfall Europe Nuclear Energy GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) (represented by: U. Karpenstein and R. Sangi, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

—annul the European Commission’s letter of 4 July 2018 in the State aid proceedings SA.51169 (2018/PN) — 16 Atomgesetz-Änderungsgesetz (Law on the Amendment to the Nuclear Energy Law; ‘16. AtG-Novelle’);

—order the defendant to pay the costs of the proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The action is based on the following grounds:

1.Infringement of Article 107(1) TFEU (in conjunction with Article 108(3) TFEU)

The applicant claims that the contested letter infringes Article 107(1) TFEU, in conjunction with Article 108(3) TFEU, because — on the assumption that it is intended to be binding —, it exempts a national indemnification law from the obligation to notify State aid, despite the fact that one of the applicant’s competitors, which, according to a judgment of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court, Germany), had no right to indemnification, was selected to be supported by State funds on the basis of that legislation.

2.Infringement of Article 4(2) of Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1589 (1)

The applicant claims that, where a Member State forms the view that a measure taken by it does not constitute aid, Regulation 2015/1589 envisages a formal decision in accordance with Article 288 TFEU, provided that the Commission comes to the conclusion, after a preliminary review, that the measure granted does not constitute aid. The letter at issue infringes those guidelines.

Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1589 of 13 July 2015 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (OJ 2015 L 248, p. 9).

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