Ifølge Tyskland har Kommissionen overskredet sine beføjelser i beslutningen om procedurens indledning af 17. juni 2008 (se betragtning 5), for så vidt den synes at antage, at en støttemodtager og dennes joint venture-partnere automatisk skal behandles som en økonomisk enhed, og de finansielle data og antallet af beskæftigede for alle joint venture-partnerne derfor altid skal kumuleres ved beregningen af SMV-tærsklerne.
Germany claims that the Commission in its opening decision of 17 June 2008 (see recital 5) goes beyond its authority in that it seems to assume that a beneficiary is automatically to be treated as one economic entity together with its joint venture partners, and that therefore the financial data and staff headcounts of all the joint venture partners should always be cumulated for the calculation of the SME thresholds.