INTRODUCTION

This chapter considers the infringement proceedings that the Commission may bring against Member States for failure by the latter to comply with EU law. It is organised as follows.

Section 2 considers the main features of the infringement proceedings set out in Articles 258 to 260 TFEU. The central provision is Article 258 TFEU and it allows the Commission to take the Member State to the Court of Justice and to obtain a ruling that it has failed to comply with EU law. The roles of such proceedings are threefold: to secure the rule of EU law; as a public policy instrument to contribute to the effective functioning of EU policies; and as a public law arena, in which the different interests of the EU institutions, Member States, complainants and EU citizens can be mediated. All three roles are important and there is a danger in overemphasising any one.

Section 3 considers the scope of Member States' responsibilities under Article 258 TFEU. Actions can be brought only against the state, but they can be brought for the failure of any state agency, including courts and local and regional government, even if it is constitutionally independent of the central government which is, in practice, the body against whom the action is taken. The state is also responsible not just for legal instruments that conflict with EU law but also administrative practices that conflict with EU law.