31.7.2017
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 249/14
Order of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 11 May 2017 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Fővárosi Törvényszék — Hungary) — Bericap Záródástechnikai Cikkeket Gyártó Bt. v Nemzetgazdasági Minisztérium
(Case C-53/17) (1)
((Reference for a preliminary ruling - Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice - Aid granted by Member States - Derogations from the prohibition of aid - Aid capable of being regarded as compatible with the internal market - Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 - Definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises - Linked enterprises - Enterprises exercising their activities on the same market and forming part of a global group of enterprises owned by the members of one single family - Concept of ‘group of natural persons acting jointly’))
(2017/C 249/21)
Language of the case: Hungarian
Referring court
Fővárosi Törvényszék
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: Bericap Záródástechnikai Cikkeket Gyártó Bt.
Defendant: Nemzetgazdasági Minisztérium
Operative part of the order
Article 3(3) of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles [107 TFEU and 108 TFEU] (General block exemption Regulation) must be interpreted as meaning that enterprises may be regarded as ‘linked’, within the meaning of that provision, where it is clear from the analysis of both the legal and economic relations existing between them that they constitute, through a natural person or a group of natural persons acting jointly, a single economic unit, even though they do not formally feature any of the relationships referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3(3) of that annex. Natural persons who work together in order to influence the commercial decisions of the enterprises concerned, with the result that those enterprises cannot be regarded as being economically independent of one another, are to be regarded as acting jointly for the purposes of the fourth subparagraph of Article 3(3) of that annex. Whether such a condition is satisfied will depend on the circumstances of the individual case and is not necessarily conditional on the existence of contractual relations between those persons or even on a finding that they intended to circumvent the definition of micro, small or medium-sized enterprises within the meaning of Annex I to Regulation No 800/2008.
(1) OJ C 144, 8.5.2017.
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