European Commission v Spain: Heavy Financial Sanctions and Missed Opportunity to Clarify the Importance of Data Protection Rules in the Law Enforcement Context

Abstract

Case C-658/19 European Commission v Kingdom of Spain, Judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Eighth Chamber) of 25 February 2021 (ECLI:EU:C:2021:138) Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 63 of the Law Enforcement Directive (LED) by failing to adopt, by the expiry of the period prescribed in the reasoned opinion of the European Commission, measures, i.e. the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the LED and, therefore, by failing to notify those measures to the European Commission. By failing to adopt, by the time the Court examined the facts, the measures necessary to transpose the provisions of the LED into its national law and, therefore, failing to notify those measures to the Commission, Spain persisted in its failure to fulfil its obligations. Spain was ordered to pay the Commission a lump sum in the amount of EUR 15.000.000 and, as from the date of the delivery of the judgement and until an end is put to the infringement, a daily penalty payment of EUR 89.000.