3.9.1 Actions of an interested party

As said, the State aid procedure is seen as an exclusive dialogue between the Member State that grants the aid and the Commission.1 The addressee of the decisions from the Commission is the Member State concerned and not the beneficiary of the State aid measure.2 In the two-stage procedure of preliminary examination and formal investigation by the Commission, aid beneficiaries, just like their shareholders, creditors, counterparties and competitors are considered ‘interested parties’, within the meaning of the Procedural Regulation and Article 108(2) TFEU.3

Interested parties cannot access the Commission’s file, including the letters and other information that has passed between the Member State and the Commission, and have no right to be heard before the Commission.4 Interested parties are only entitled to submit comments on the Commission’s decision to open a formal investigation, normally within one month from its publication in the Official Journal.5 Interested parties which have submitted comments and any aid beneficiary will receive a copy of the decision taken by the Commission to close the formal investigation procedure.6 They can also, on their request, obtain a copy of a decision not to raise objections or to initiate the formal investigation procedure following the preliminary examination, a positive, conditional or negative decision to close the formal investigation procedure, a decision to require the provision of information by a Member State, or a decision to require a Member State to suspend or recover any unlawful aid until the Commission has taken a decision on the compatibility of the aid with the internal market.7

Besides submitting comments, any interested party may submit a complaint to inform the Commission of any alleged unlawful aid or any alleged misuse of aid.8