Judgment of the Court Grand Chamber of 28 June 2022, Commission v Spain Violation du droit de l'Union par le législateur, C-278/20
| Date | 28 June 2022 |
| Year | 2022 |
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XIII. JUDGMENTS PREVIOUSLY DELIVERED
1. EU LAW AND NATIONAL LAW
Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 28 Jun e 2022, Commission v Sp ain (Violation du
droit de l'Union par le législateur), C-278/20
Link to the full text of the judgment
Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Liability of Member States for harm caused to indivi duals
by infringements of EU law – Infringement of EU law attributable to the national legislature – Infringement
of the Constitution of a Member State attributable to the national legislature – Principles of equivalence
and effectiveness
The principle of State liability for loss or harm caused to individuals by breaches of EU law for which
the State can be held responsible is inhe rent in the system of the Treaties.
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That principle applies
irrespective of the body of the Member State whose action or omission is the cause of that
infringement.
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Where the three conditions for establishing the liability of the State for loss or harm
caused to individuals have been met,
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they have a right to compensation under EU law.
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However,
it is on the basis of the rules of national law on liability that the State must make reparation for the
consequences of the loss or damage caused, provided that the conditions f or reparation of loss and
damage laid down by national law are not less favourable than th ose relating to similar domestic
claims (principle of equivalence) and are not so framed as to make it, in practice, imposs ible or
excessively difficult to obtain reparation (principle of effectivenes s).
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Those two principles lie at the heart of the present case in which the European Commission has
brought an action against the Kingdom of Spa in for failure to fulfil its obligations. Fo llowing
complaints lodged by individuals, the Co mmission initiated an EU Pilot procedure
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against that
Member State. That procedure concerned certain national provisions aligning the rules on the liability
of the State legislature for infringements of EU law with the rules on the liability of the St ate
legislature for infringements of the Spanish Constitution.
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That procedure, which proved
unsuccessful, was closed and the Commission initiated infringement proceedings against the
Kingdom of Spain.
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Judgments of 26 January 2010, Tra nsportes Urbanos y Servicios Generales (C-118/08, EU:C:2010:39, par agraph 29 and the case-l aw cited), and
of 18 January 2022, Thelen Technopark Berlin (C-261/20, EU:C :2022:33, paragraph 42 and the case-law cited).
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To that effect, judgments of 5 March 1996, Brasserie du pêcheur and Factor tame (C-46/93 and C-48 /93, EU:C:1996:79, paragrap hs 32 and 36),
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The three conditions are as follows: the rule of EU law infrin ged must be intended to confer rights on individuals, the breach of that rule
must be sufficiently serious and there must be a direct causal link between that breac h and the loss or harm sustained by the individuals.
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Judgments of 26 January 2010, Tra nsportes Urbanos y Servicios Generales (C-118/08, EU:C:2010:39, par agraph 30 and the case-l aw cited), and
of 18 January 2022, Thelen Technopark Berlin (C-261/20, EU:C :2022:33, paragraph 44 and the case-law cited).
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Judgments of 26 January 2010, Tra nsportes Urbanos y Servicios Generales (C-118/08, EU:C:2010:39, par agraph 31 and the case-l aw cited), and
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System used at an early stage by the Commiss ion to attempt to clarify or resolve problems in order to avoid, where possible, the initiation of
infringement proceedings against the Member State concerned.
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Article 32(3) to (6) and the second subparagraph of Article 34(1) of Ley 40/2015 de Régimen Jurí dico del Sector Público (Law 40/2015 on the
legal system governing the public sector) of 1 Octob er 2015 (BOE No 236 of 2 Oc tober 2015, p. 89411), and the thi rd subparagraph of
Article 67(1) of Ley 39/2015 del Procedimiento Administrativo Común de las A dministraciones Públicas (Law 39/2015 on the common
administrative procedure of the public authorities) of 1 October 2015 (B OE No 236 of 2 October 2015, p. 89343).
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