Court-order fines member states
Dear Madam, Sir,
The European Court of Justice can order member states to pay a fine to the European Commission if they breach EU law or if they fail to implement directives.
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, and Regulation 1367/2006, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
All data on the total amount of fines paid per member state per infringement, for the period from 1 January 2012 until 1 January 2022.
If the information is available in a spreadsheet or other machine-readable format, that has my preference.
The public interest of this information should be evident, but in summary: for the integrity of the internal market, a level playing-field, as well as citizens' trust in the EU, it is vital that member states carry out the obligations that follow from EU law. The possibility for the Court to order financial penalties is meant to incentive member states to make sure they carry out EU directives and regulations - It is important that citizens have insight into the amount of penalties paid in each case, so they can assess their effectivity.
Regulation 1367/2006 is of relevance here because some of the infringements concern environmental regulations and/or directives.
I am at your disposal to provide any clarification you may need regarding my request.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
postal address:
Peter Teffer
Ekko Voorkamer
Bemuurde Weerd WZ 3
3513 BH Utrecht
The Netherlands
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[5][acknowledgement of receipt] RE: access to documents request -
Court-order fines member states - Ares(2022)716399 (Please use this link
only if you are an Ares user – Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous
êtes un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email of 31 January 2022. We hereby acknowledge receipt
of your application.
In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application
will be handled within 15 working days. The time limit will expire on
21/02/22. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.
We understand that your request refers to the total amount of fines paid
per member state per infringement, for the period from 1 January 2012
until 1 January 2022.
Your application is currently being handled, but the information is not
contained in any existing documents, and the reply will therefore involve
compiling information from a number of different documents and sources.
For this reason, your request will be considered as a request for
information and not as a request for documents within the meaning of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents.
Notwithstanding this requalification, you will receive an answer by
21/02/2022.
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Yours faithfully,
DG Budget Access to Documents team
European Commission
Directorate-General for Budget
Unit 03 – Strategic Coordination and Communication
[7][DG BUDG request email]
B-1049 Brussels/Belgium
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[4]RE: access to documents request - Court-order fines member states -
Ares(2022)1135821 (Please use this link only if you are an Ares user –
Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr Teffer,
Please find enclosed the list of fines imposed on Member States.
The list includes both closed and open cases. Open cases are those for
which the infringement is still ongoing. For these, the total amount is
not shown, as penalties are still increasing while the infringement
persists. Please remark that case C-407/09 was recorded as revenue in
2011.
Kind regards,
BUDG Fines Team
Dear Madam, Sir,
Thank you for providing the list of Penalties and lump sums paid by Member States.
Could you provide the data in the original spreadsheet format?
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
[1]RE: access to documents request - Court-order fines member states -
Ares(2022)1135821 - Ares(2022)1362925 (Please use this link only if you
are an Ares user – Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e)
utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr Teffer,
Please find attached the information already provided, this time in Excel
format.
Kind regards,
BUDG Fines Team