Neexecutarea obligaţiei de recuperare a ajutoarelor de stat și rolul instanţelor naţionale: comentariu asupra Hotărârii CJUE în Cauza C-51/20 Comisia c. Grecia
Non-execution of the Obligation to Recover State Aid and the Role of National Courts: Comment on the CJEU Judgment in Case C 51/20 Commission v. Greece

Summary/Abstract: The present case commentary provides an in-depth analysis of the judgment delivered by the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-51/20 Commission v. Greece, concerning the persistent failure of a Member State to comply with its obligation to recover unlawful and incompatible State aid, as previously ordered by the Commission. The ruling exemplifies the corrective and sanctioning function of the EU judiciary in response to institutional inertia at the national level and underscores the indispensable, albeit often overlooked, role of national courts in securing the full effectiveness of EU State aid rules. By examining the interpretative trajectory established in landmark decisions such as SFEI (C-39/94) and Eesti Pagar (C-349/17), and building upon doctrinal insights, the paper at hand argues that national judges are under a direct and autonomous obligation to enforce Article 108 (3) TFEU. In doing so, they must not only withhold recognition of unlawful aid, but must also actively contribute to its recovery, ensure the disapplication of incompatible national provisions, and preserve the ”effet utile” of EU law across various procedural domains, including insolvency proceedings and tax disputes. The analysis reaffirms that judicial passivity is incompatible with the constitutional role conferred upon national courts as decentralized enforcers of the Union legal order.

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