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… The same applies to the purported purpose of the MINAS system, which, according to the Netherlands Government, is to the . There is in fact established case-law that Article 87(1) EC makes no distinction according to the causes or aims of the measures of State intervention concerned but defines them according to their effects. (43) 87. …

… I shall start by examining that argument. i) Whether there is an granted to certain undertakings or for the production of certain goods and whether the basis of the proposed exemption is justified by reason of the nature and general scheme of the system 62. …

… According to the Netherlands Government, that exemption confers no whatsoever on those undertakings but rectifies an error to their detriment in the MINAS system. The differentiation in their favour which the exemption regulation introduces, or even the fact that the measure is , is therefore justified, it contends, by the nature and general scheme of the system of manure levies. …

… Even if the aims relating to the of the pursued by the contracting authority by including that criterion are not achieved, it does not follow that an environmental criterion in an invitation to tender would be unlawful. 4. The connection between the award criterion and the subject-matter of the contract 53. …

… In paragraph 42 of the Evans Medical and Macfarlan Smith judgment, cited above, the Court stated that ‘in the most economically tender, contracting authorities may choose the criteria which they intend to apply, but their choice may relate only to criteria designed to identify the most economically advantageous tender’. 80. …

… In fact, therefore, the criterion was a disguised criterion of . 61. How much weight should be attached to these arguments? 62. …

… Where that is the case, the measure at issue cannot, as a rule, be considered to be , even if it gives an to the undertakings who are able to benefit from it (see, to that effect, Joined Cases C-72/91 and C-73/91 Sloman Neptun [1993] ECR I-887, paragraph 21). 53. However, in the present case, the Kingdom of Spain has not produced any evidence of the existence of a system of charges in the general interest. …

… The Kingdom of Spain does not deny that the Agreement expressly excludes large undertakings from its scope, but observes that the aid scheme at issue is part of the system of support for the of the , road safety and renewal of vehicles on the road. …

… First, as regards the of the , the Commission disregarded Article 92(3)(c) of the Treaty, founding its argument on the Guidelines for environmental aid in order to refuse authorisation for the aid at issue, in so far as it constituted investment aid. …

… The Constitutional Court has frequently stated that the notion of ‘legitimate interest ... is defined as an or any legal benefit arising out of the remedy sought’ (judgment no. 60/1982). …

… Lastly, the number of people affected by the appeals is very high (4,091 teachers entered the competition and 2,014 were selected in a very specific functional (teaching)). In the light of the foregoing, we reach the clear conclusion that the appellants had constructive notice of the judicial review proceedings that were heard by the Administrative Division in Seville. …

… Accordingly, there has been no violation of the right to the of the courts (Article 24 § 1 of the Spanish Constitution).” II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE A. The Constitution Article 24 “1. Everyone shall have the right to the effective protection of the judges and courts in the exercise of his rights and legitimate interests and shall never be left defenceless. 2. …

… It notes that the Court has ruled in Case 31/87 Gebroeders Beentjes [1988] ECR 4635 and Case C-324/93 Evans Medical and Macfarlan Smith [1995] ECR I-563 that in the most economically tender the contracting authorities are free to choose the criteria to be used in awarding the contract. Their choice may relate only, however, to criteria designed to identify the most economically advantageous tender. 34. …

… As regards, finally, the operator's quality and programme, additional points were to be awarded for various certified quality criteria and for a certified programme. 25. The purchasing office of the city of Helsinki received eight tenders for lot 6, including those from HKL and from Swebus Finland Oy Ab (‘Swebus’, subsequently Stagecoach Finland Oy Ab (‘Stagecoach’), then Concordia). The latter's tender comprised two offers, designated A and B. 26. …

… The principle of equal treatment does not preclude the taking into consideration of criteria connected with of the , such as those at issue in the main proceedings, solely because the contracting entity's own transport undertaking is one of the few undertakings able to offer a bus fleet satisfying those criteria. 3. …

… According to Article 2 EC the Community must promote a high level of and improvement of the quality of the . According to Article 6 EC environmental requirements must be integrated into the definition and implementation of all Community policies and activities. According to Article 174(2) EC the Community's policy on the must be based inter alia on the principle that the polluter should pay. 66. …

… The costs associated with the of the should be included in a firm's production costs (internalisation of costs). The principle can be put into practice through a variety of State measures such as the taxation of pollution or liability rules. 67. …

… At least at first sight it appears moreover that the exemption in issue is or specific in that it favours ‘certain undertakings’ within the meaning of Article 87(1) EC, namely those meat retailers with a turnover below a determined threshold and thus only undertakings of a specified size. 140. The fact that undertakings are treated differently does not, however, automatically imply the existence of a granted economic for the purposes of Article 87(1) EC. …

… It is beyond dispute that the of the is likewise a criterion in the public interest. Reference need only be had to Article 6 EC, which states ‘[e]nvironmental must be integrated into the definition and implementation of the Community policies and activities referred to in Article 3, in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development’. 93. …

… Admittedly, in its judgment in the Evans Medical and Macfarlan Smith case, the Court held that ‘in the most economically tender contracting authorities may choose the criteria which they intend to apply, but their choice may relate only to criteria designed to identify the most economically (30) advantageous tender’. (31) 103. …

… The Austrian Government maintains that the directives relating to public procurement procedures impose two essential restrictions on the of award criteria. First, the criteria chosen by the contracting entity must relate to the contract to be tendered and allow the offer which is economically most for the contracting entity to be ascertained. …

… Those questions have been raised in proceedings between Ms Jippes, residing at Yde (Netherlands), and the Afdeling Groningen van de Nederlandse Vereniging tot Bescherming van Dieren and the Afdeling Assen en omstreken van de Nederlandse Vereniging tot Bescherming van Dieren (Groningen section and Assen and section of the Netherlands Association for the of Animals)(hereinafter 'the appellants'), on the one hand, and the Minister van Landbouw, Natuurbeheer en Visserij (Netherlands …

… In addition, it is necessary to take into consideration the fact that the ban on a general system of preventive vaccination does not preclude recourse, where the circumstances so require, to emergency vaccination in accordance with the requirements of a particular situation. 97. It is not correct to claim that such a policy fails to take into account the protection and health of animals. …

… It follows from the foregoing that, when instituting the policy of non-vaccination, the Council carried out a global assessment of the and drawbacks of the system to be established and that that policy, corresponding to the recommendations of the IOE and the practice followed by numerous countries worldwide, was not on any view manifestly inappropriate in the light of the objective of controlling foot-and-mouth disease. 96. …

… (b) of the 211. The second ground of justification relied on by the interveners, the Commission and Germany is the of the . In that connection they refer, first, to Articles 3(2), 8(3) and 11(3) of the electricity directive and, secondly, to the of the under the Treaty. 212. I am not convinced that the mechanism established by the StrEG 1998 is covered by any of those provisions of the electricity directive. 213. …

… Can the restriction on imports caused by the StrEG 1998 none the less be justified under the Treaty in the interest of environmental ? 216. The of the is not listed in Article 36 of the Treaty. …

… It cannot be justified under Article 36 of the Treaty either since the of the is not included among the interests by that article. In any event, the StrEG 1998 infringes the principle of proportionality. 193. …

… Finally, the argument based on the nature and structure of the Spanish system aimed at promoting the of the and road safety and at modernising the vehicles on the road cannot be accepted. 52. …

… It does not, however, preclude that public measure from having to be regarded as a system of aid constituting a , and therefore specific, measure if, owing to the criteria governing its application, it procures an for certain undertakings or the production of certain goods, to the exclusion of others. 41. …

… In a number of those cases the reasons which the Commission gave for not requiring recovery were connected with the fact that the aid had contributed to the of the , the marginal nature of the advantage granted or, again, legitimate expectations, grounds which should have been accepted in the present case. 157. The applicant concludes that the order addressed to the Kingdom of Spain to recover the aid granted to each of the recipients of the PRI is wholly disproportionate. …