Public procurement: In the recent ruling of Kingdom of Spain v Commission, the Commission was found not to be under a duty to reopen an aid procedure.
The recent ruling in Spain v Commission by the Court of First Instance will have far reaching implications for all areas where the Commission’s decisions have been annulled under Article 174 of the EC Treaty. This particular case concerned capital contributions made by the Spanish Government in breach of the state aid provisions in the Treaty. On review the Court of Justice the decision was partially annulled, with the ruling that the Commission’s analysis had not met with its own criteria. In compliance with the ruling the Commission adopted a new decision, reaching the same conclusion.
The CFI found that the Commission had not been obliged to reinitiate the investigation. The original investigation had not been flawed, rather the analysis within the decision had been found to be unsound in itself. Therefore there was no need for a new investigation. The CFI also found that the Commission’s failure to initiate a new investigation did not infringe the principles of legal certainty, the right to be heard or the protection of legitimate expectations.
Case C-415/96, Kingdom of Spain v Commission, 12th November (CCH,.3/12/98)
