Official Journal of the European Union

EN

Series C

C/2023/1165

4.12.2023

(Case T-529/23)

(C/2023/1165)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: YU (represented by: L. Frölich, lawyer)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

principally

find that the European Commission has unlawfully failed to apply to the applicant and the legal entities belonging to him, (i), the protection provided for in Directive 2019/1937, (ii), the definition of ‘interested party’, as regards his status as an agent acting on behalf of the French State, for the purposes of the recovery of the unlawful aid set out in complaints SA.46963 and SA.52275;

find that at the end of the silence maintained after the deadline of 30 days set in the two letters of 25 July 2023, the European Commission is to be deemed as having implicitly revoked its decision on registering complaints SA.46963 and SA.52275 as general information on the market and that, consequently, it is necessary to:

find that the European Commission has failed to fulfil its obligations by omitting to adopt a decision in respect of, first, guarantees of EUR 45 billion granted by the French Republic to the banking institution Bpifrance SA and, second, in respect of the asset contribution of EUR 21,776 billion granted to that institution, reported in complaint SA.52275 as being unlawful and incompatible aid in the light of the conditions established in the Banking Communication of 30 July 2013;

find that the European Commission has failed to fulfil its obligations by omitting to adopt a decision in respect of the erroneous application of Regulation 800/2008 by the provisions of the convention of 9 May 2012, as reported in complaint SA.46963;

find that the European Commission omitted to initiate the formal investigation procedure before that revocation;

in the alternative

annul the possible acts of the European Commission intended to produce binding legal effects capable of affecting the interests of the applicant in his capacity (i) as a person protected by Directive 2019/1937 and (ii) as an agent acting on behalf of the French State, for the purposes of the recovery of the unlawful aid set out in complaints SA.46963 and SA.52275;

rule that the revocation of those acts, assuming them to have been adopted previously in cases SA.46963 and SA.52275 by the European Commission, necessarily entailed initiation of the formal investigation procedure provided for in Article 108(2) TFEU;

order the European Union to bear the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on two pleas in law.

First plea in law, claiming that the applicant has the status of an interested party, within the meaning of Article 1(h) of 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).

Second plea, alleging failure to act by the European Commission, on the ground that it did not provide a relevant response to the call to act which was sent to it on 5 May 2023.

Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (OJ 2019 L 305, p. 17).

Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (General block exemption Regulation) (OJ 2008 L 214, p. 3).