Introduction

The European Treaties establish a dual enforcement mechanism for European Union law. Apart from the decentralized enforcement by national courts, the Union legal order equally envisages the centralized enforcement of European law in the European Courts. The judicial competences of the European Courts are enumerated in the section of the TFEU dealing with the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Four classes of judicial actions will be discussed in this Chapter. The first class is typically labelled an “enforcement action” in the strict sense of the term. This action is set out in Articles 258 and 259 TFEU and concerns the failure of a Member State to act in accordance with European law (Section 1). The three remaining actions “enforce” the European Treaties against the Union itself. These actions can be brought for a failure to act (Section 2), for judicial review (Section 3), and for damages (Section 4).

Enforcement Actions against Member States

Where a Member State breaches European law, the central way to “enforce” the Treaties is to bring that State before the European Court. The European legal order envisages two potential applicants for enforcement actions against a failing Member State: the Commission and another Member State. The procedure governing the former scenario is set out in Article 258; and the – almost – identical procedure governing the second scenario is set out in Article 259. Both procedures are inspired by international law logic. For not only are individuals excluded from enforcing their rights under that procedure, the European Court also cannot repeal national laws that violate European law. Its judgment will simply “declare” that a violation of European law has taken place. However, as we shall see below, this declaration may now be backed up by financial sanctions.

(a) The Procedural Conditions under Article 258

Enforcement actions against a Member State are “the ultima ratio enabling the [Union] interests enshrined in the Treat[ies] to prevail over the inertia and resistance of Member States”.