Next episode in the “Micula” saga: GC rules on arbitral awards and state aid
Today, the General Court has rendered a new judgment in the “Micula saga” dismissing the appeals in the joined Cases T‑624/15 RENV, T‑694/15 RENV and T‑704/15 RENV.
In particular, the court has dealt with the violation of Article 107(1) TFEU. It has considered that the compensation from the arbitration award conferred an advantage on the applicants because the damages were afforded based on the losses incurred due to the repeal of the incentive scheme. The claimants could not demonstrate that the damages were given based on the breach of the BIT and thus, the compensation conferred an advantage on the applicants.
Since the ICSID Convention and the BIT did not establish any obligations or rights vis-à-vis third countries, the measure was also imputable to Romania. Even if this were not the case, Romanian courts paid the sum, and by being state organs this action would be imputable to the state.
Furthermore, the GC stated that there was no error of law in the ordering of recovery to all the undertakings forming part of the economic unit (joint liability). The court claimed that the fact that the Micula brothers controlled all undertakings indicated that it cannot be excluded that they would have benefited, directly or indirectly, from the compensation in the award. As such, recovery had to be ordered in this way to ensure that the situation before the aid was granted was restored.
For further information, see the Court of Justice’s judgment.