With a judgment rendered on 22 February 2024 in Case C-701/21 P and C-739/21 DEI v Commission, the ECJ has set aside a judgement of the General Court regarding a Commission’s decision on an arbitration award by the Greek energy regulator RAE to determine the electricity tariff that the Greek state-controlled electricity producer DEI must charge the Greek aluminium producer Mytilinaios.
One of the issues addressed by the ECJ in this judgment is whether the RAE should be classified as an ordinary state court which forms part of Greek judiciary system and the effects this classification may have on whether an arbitral award can be considered as a state measure in the context of the state aid assessment.
The ECJ recalled the two categories of arbitration tribunals: contractually appointed arbitration tribunals whose jurisdiction is based on an agreement between the parties and arbitration tribunals whose jurisdiction is prescribed by law and independent of the will of the parties and emphasised the differences between this case and the judgment in case C‑638/19 P Commission v European Food and Others.
For more information, see C-701/21 P and C-739/21