Sharpening the teeth of the infringement procedure. EIPA briefing August 2020.

It has taken almost ten years for the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU, Court) to apply Article 260(3) TFEU. This allows it to impose a financial sanction on an EU Member State already at the conclusion of the first infringement procedure (Article 258 TFEU), in a case of failure to notify the transposition measures of a directive. In its much-awaited judgement in Case C-543/17, Commission v Belgium, the Court for the first time formulated an extensive interpretation of the notification obligation covering not only ‘non-communication’, but ‘partial communication’ of transposition measures as well. This ruling will have important practical implications for the work of state authorities responsible for EU law harmonisation. It also equips the EU with a new device to put pressure on Member States to transpose directives in a timely way