Finanzielle Sanktionen bei Nichterfüllung von Urteilen des Gerichtshofs der EU

Abstract

Pursuant to Article 260 (2) TFEU, in the event of a Member State’s failure to comply with a judgment which condemns said State, the Court may impose financial penalties (lump sums penalty payments) calculated in accordance with established criteria. When preparing its proposal for sanctions, the Commission takes into account the gravity and duration of the infringement; the gross domestic product (GDP) of the convicted Member State; and the weighted voting rights allocated to it in the EU Council. However, with the replacement of the existing system of vote-weighing in the Council, the methods for calculating sanctions also required adjusting, that is - for the attainment of a qualified majority - via the so-called double majority, the system called for in Article 3 of the Protocol (No 36) had to be adjusted as per 1 April 2017. As stated by the Court in its judgment of Case C-93/17, the system now takes into account the number of seats allocated to each Member State in the European Parliament, instead of the weighted votes in the Council. Moreover, since its judgment of Case C-304/02 - and contrary to the word or in Article 260 (2) TFEU - the Court now cumulates the lump sum with the penalty payment.