COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT SITUATION PER SECTOR Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 29th ANNUAL REPORT ON MONITORING THE APPLICATION OF EU LAW (2011)
Date: 2012-11-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU control, EU statistics, complaint to the Commission, infringement procedure (EU), national implementing measure

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 30.11.2012  
SWD(2012) 400 final 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

SITUATION PER SECTOR 

Accompanying the document 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 

29th ANNUAL REPORT ON MONITORING THE APPLICATION OF EU LAW 
(2011) 

{COM(2012) 714 final} 
{SWD(2012) 399 final} 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
A G R I C U L T U R E   A N D   R U R A L   D E V E L O P M E N T  

General statistics 
In the area of agriculture and rural development, 27 
infringements were open at the end of 2011. This was the 
thirteenth-highest number of cases among the Commission’s 20 
reporting policy areas. The table below shows the distribution 
of these cases according to their origin: 

27 infringements relating to EU laws on agriculture

Complaint-based 
cases; 5

Own initiative 
cases; 22

The Commission launched 34 new infringement 

procedures in 2011. 20 Member States seem to have violated 
the EU’s exclusive competences by passing resolutions in the 
OIV,1 which called into question both the EU’s exclusive 
competences and the loyal cooperation principle (Article 4(3) 
TEU). And France may have contravened EU rules on wine by 
authorising the sale of spirit drinks with labels referring to 
'wine', though these drinks were distilled from by-products of 
winemaking.2 

The Commission brought a Court case against the Czech 

Republic for extending the sales designation 'pomazánkové 
máslo' (spreadable butter) to products not complying with the 
EU laws on minimum milk-fat and maximum water content for 
butter.3  

In two agriculture cases, the Commission could not 
confirm by the end of 2011 that Member States had complied 
with an earlier Court judgment condemning their measures. In 
the first case, the Commission monitored whether Portugal had 
reimbursed (with interest) the charges it had deducted from the 
amounts received by beneficiaries from the structural funds.4 In 
the second, the Commission brought an action against Italy for 
the incorrect implementation of the Directive on cocoa and 
chocolate products.5  

Late transposition of directives 
Member States had to transpose the directive on fruit juices6 by 
1 January 2011. The Commission initiated infringements 
against 11 Member States due to late and/or partial transposition 
of this Directive. Following rapid Member State compliance, 
the Commission was able to close all procedures by the end of 
2011. 

Complaints handling 
There were 86 new complaints on agricultural issues during 
2011 (up from 58 in 2010). Of the 69 complaints processed by 
the Commission, 25 resulted in pre-infringement discussions 
with the Member State concerned. 

Complaints mainly targeted the following issues: protected 

designations (wine and spirits); temporary exceptional support 
measures (fruits and vegetables); and milk designations and 
milk quotas (animal products). Several complainants questioned 
the compatibility of national provisions with the 'full payment 

1  
2  
3  
4  
5  
6  

Organisation internationale de la vigne et du vin.  
IP/12/179. 
IP/10/1224. 
Commission v Portugal, C-83/04. 
Commission v Italy, C-47/09. 
Directive 2009/106/EC. 

clause'7 as well as the selection by national authorities of the 
beneficiaries of payments and support measures. 

Own-initiative cases  
The infringement procedures that were launched against 20 
Member States in parallel because of their resolutions in the 
OIV were based on the Commission’s own findings. In addition, 
the use of protected geographical indications and Member 
States’ labelling rules are often subject to  pre-infringement 
enquiries by the Commission.  

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 32 new files in EU Pilot on 
agricultural matters and processed 24 dossiers during 2011. In 
21 instances, the Commission accepted the Member States' 
explanations or undertakings. There were still 16 open files in 
EU Pilot related to the agricultural sector by the end of last year.  

The EU agricultural disputes that were resolved without a 

Court procedure in 2011 included the repeal of Greek laws 
prohibiting the repackaging of potatoes (incompatible with the 
principle of free movement of goods) and the abolition  of 
Spanish rules on the geographical indication 'Viñedos de 
España' (Member State names may be protected only in 
exceptional cases). 

Prominent judgments  
In 2011, the Court delivered no judgments on EU agricultural 
law under the Articles 258 and 260 TFEU procedures.  
However, preliminary rulings from the Court gave 
guidance on: the conditions when beneficiaries of support may 
be considered as obstructing on-the-spot checks;8 and the 
registration of a trade mark that contains such geographical 
indication with which it cannot comply.9 

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/agriculture/index_en.htm 

7  

8  
9  

The aid coming from the EU directly to producers may not be subject 
to deductions due to national, regional or local rules.  
Marija Omejc, C-536/09. 
Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac, C-4/10 and C-27/10. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
C L I M A T E   A C T I O N  

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 21 climate change files in EU Pilot 
during 2011 (one complaint and 20 own-initiative files), 
bringing the number of active EU Pilot cases in the climate 
action area to 23. Of these, two dossiers were processed in 2011. 
One assessment was positive. The Commission rejected the 
explanation provided by the Member State in the other case. 21 
climate action files were open at the end of 2011.  

The Commission closed two on-going infringement cases 

against Romania and Bulgaria as they had completed their 
yearly greenhouse gas emission statements. The Commission 
also closed an infringement case against Spain, having been 
reassured by the Member State about effective monitoring of 
fuel consumption and release of CO2 emission in line with the 
directive.14 An infringement procedure against Luxembourg 
was closed as its authorities fulfilled the requirements of the 
regulation on various fluorinated greenhouse gases by adopting 
the necessary certification and training measures for companies 
and personnel working with such gases. 

Prominent judgments  
The Court delivered no material judgments in 2011 or 
preliminary rulings relevant to the application of EU law by the 
Member States in the area of climate action.  

Further information available at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/clima/news/index_en.htm 

General statistics 
The Commission managed 61 open infringement cases in the 
area of climate action at the end of 2011, which is the tenth-
highest caseload among the 20 reporting policy areas. The 
following table shows the distribution of these cases according 
to their origins: 

61 infringements relating to 
EU law on climate action 

Own initiative cases; 3 

Complaint-based cases; 2 

Late transposition 
cases; 56 

In 2011, the Commission opened 38 new infringement 

cases in this area, mostly due to late transposition.  

None of the climate action cases reached the stage of 

referral to the Court during 2011.  

Likewise, there were no Court judgments in 2011 which 
the Commission had to follow up in order to ensure Member 
States’ compliance.  

Late transposition of directives 
Of the 38 new cases, 35 infringement cases had to be opened 
during 2011 because there were no or only partial national 
implementing rules. 

The Directive on the geological storage of carbon dioxide10 
was not transposed in time by 26 Member States. A further nine 
late transposition infringements had to be initiated due to delays 
in notifying national implementing rules for the Directive on 
fuel quality.11 Although a few Member States did then notify 
their implementing rules, none of these infringements could be 
closed by the end of 2011. 

Complaints handling 
The Commission received six complaints on climate matters 
during 2011. They concerned directives on the geological 
storage of carbon dioxide and on the greenhouse gas emission 
allowance trading scheme, and the regulation on various 
fluorinated greenhouse gases.12 One of the complaints has been 
transferred to EU Pilot.  

The Commission also received a petition from the 
European Parliament relating to an exploration project for 
carbon capture and storage in France, which was followed up by 
contacts via EU Pilot.  

Own-initiative cases  
The Commission sent letters of formal notice to Malta, 
Luxembourg and Italy for the bad application of the regulation 
on various fluorinated greenhouse gases.13   

The Commission did not receive implementing measures 

from some Members States by the initial deadline under the 
decision on the allocation of free emission allowances to 
stationary installations covered by the EU Emission Trading 
Scheme. As a result, the Commission has opened a horizontal 
investigation in EU Pilot involving 18 Member States.  

10  
11  
12  
13  

Directive 2009/31/EC. 
Directive 2009/30/EC. 
Regulation 842/2006. 
More detailed overview in IP/12/415 (Malta and Italy). 

14  

Directive 1999/94/EC. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
                                                 
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S   N E T W O R K S ,   C O N T E N T   A N D   T E C H N O L O G Y  

General statistics 
The Commission had 62 open infringement cases in the area of 
communications networks, content and technology at the end of 
2011, making this the ninth-highest caseload among the 20 
reporting policy areas. The following table shows the 
distribution of these cases according to their origins: 

62 infringements on EU 
communications networks law  

Complaint-based 
cases; 6 

Own initiative 
cases; 14 

Late transposition 
cases; 42 

In addition to the 45 new infringements initiated in this 
area during 2011, the Commission stepped up its efforts against 
sector-specific taxes on telecommunication service providers, 
on the grounds that they are incompatible with the 
administrative charges allowed by EU rules: Hungary received a 
reasoned opinion15 and both France and Spain were referred to 
the Court.16 

Three Member States had to comply with earlier Court 
judgments in order to avoid financial sanctions under Article 
260(2) TFEU. The judgments in question related to: the 'must-
carry' rules17 and incorrect implementation of the Universal 
Services Directive18 under Belgian law; the imposition of retail 
tariffs for high-speed internet access without market analysis in 
Poland;19 and the incorrect implementation of the Universal 
Services Directive under Portuguese law.20  

Late transposition of directives 
39 infringements had to be opened during 2011 because there 
were no or only partial national implementing rules in the area 
of communications networks.  

In 2011, the transposition deadline expired for two key 

directives that modernise the regulatory framework for 
electronic communications: (1) infringements had to be 
launched against 20 Member States due to the late transposition 
of the Citizens’ Rights Directive;21 (2) as regards the 
transposition of the Better Regulation Directive,22 19 Member 
States had failed to notify their national measures by the 
deadline. However, this poor transposition record had improved 
by the end of 2011 for both directives.  

A further eight late transposition infringements were 
closed under the Audiovisual Media Services Directive23 
(AVMSD) as Member States notified their national 
implementing measures.  

Complaints handling 
The Commission received 32 complaints on matters relating to 
communication networks during 2011, well down on 2010 (49 
incoming complaints). National telecommunication rules 

15  
16  
17  
18  
19  
20  
21  
22  
23  

IP/11/308 and IP/11/1108. 
IP/11/309. 
Commission v Belgium, C-134/10.  
Commission v Belgium, C-222/08.  
Commission v Poland, C-545/08.  
Commission v Portugal, C-154/09.  
Directive 2009/136/EC. 
Directive 2009/140/EC. 
Directive 2010/13/EU. 

provoked the most complaints from citizens and organisations 
in 2011. 

The Commission processed 40 complaints in this policy 

field last year. Half of the files were closed with the 
Commission’s full response to the complainant (21). By 
contrast, 16 complaints on communications networks were 
transferred to EU Pilot for Member States to react on them.  
There was no petition or question from the EP or MEPs 

that would have triggered an infringement procedure under EU 
law on communications networks. 

Own-initiative cases  
The Commission has increasingly used the EU Pilot in order to 
screen implementation issues regarding EU laws on electronic 
communications (e.g. radio spectrum, consumer protection 
including privacy). Another initiative was launched to detect 
implementation concerns surrounding the Audiovisual Media 
Services Directive (AVMSD).  

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 61 new EU Pilot files on electronic 
communications issues during 2011 and processed 31 files in 
this period. 27 assessments were positive, i.e. the Commission 
accepted the explanations or the undertakings of the Member 
State concerned (87 % success rate). Early resolution prevented 
a few potential infringements on radio spectrum management 
and on the ’112’ European emergency number. 51 EU Pilot files 
remained open by the end of last year.  

Significant infringements on electronic communications 

were closed before Court proceedings in 2011 as Latvia, 
Lithuania Romania and Slovenia ensured the independence of 
their respective national regulatory authorities.24  

Prominent judgments  
The Court found that Spanish rules tolerated the broadcasting of 
advertising spots in excess of the time limits set by the Directive 
on television broadcasting activities (89/552/EEC).25  

In a preliminary ruling, the Court interpreted the concept 

of ‘incitement to hatred on grounds of race, sex, religion or 
nationality’ in the context of the Directive on television 
broadcasting activities.26 

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/connect/index_en.htm 

24  
25  
26  

For example, IP/11/412. 
Commission v Spain, C-281/09.  
Commission v Poland, C-244/10.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
E M P L O Y M E N T ,   S O C I A L   A F F A I R S   A N D   I N C L U S I O N  

further steps due to the Commission’s full response to the 
complainant (183) or its lack of competence (7). 26 
employment complaints were transferred to EU Pilot so that 
Member States could react to them.  

Petitions from the European Parliament led to infringement 

proceedings against Greece for the inadequate recognition of 
foreign professional experience in its public sector; and against 
Italy due to the incorrect transposition of the workplace health 
and safety rules32 into its national law.  

Own-initiative cases  
In the area of health and safety at work, own-initiative cases are 
most frequently linked to the continuous monitoring of the 
framework directive on health and safety at work (as Member 
States are continuously making amendments to their national 
legislation in this field) and the high-risk sectors (e.g. fishing, 
construction). 

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 35 new files in EU Pilot during 2011 
and processed 59 dossiers in this period. 47 assessments were 
positive, i.e. the Commission accepted the explanations or the 
undertakings of the Member State concerned (80 % success 
rate). 56 files remained open in EU Pilot by the end of 2011.  
Concerning ongoing infringement cases, there was major 

progress, with the closure of 16 infringements on working time. 

Prominent judgments  
The Court confirmed that EU citizens are able to enjoy their 
rights of free movement in the EU without comprising their 
social security protection. Requiring a condition of past 
presence of the claimant in the State to the exclusion of any 
other relevant element to establish a genuine link between the 
claimant and the social security system of that Member State is 
contrary to EU law.33 The Court also ruled that the working 
time directive does not prevent national law limiting the 
accumulation of annual leave by setting up a carry-over period, 
which, once expired, terminates the right to paid leave.34  

Further information available at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/social/home.jsp 

General statistics 
The Commission managed 73 open infringement cases on 
employment matters in 2011 – the seventh-highest number of 
cases among the 20 reporting policy areas. The following table 
shows the distribution of these cases according to their origins: 

73 infringements relating to 
EU law on employment 

Late transposition 
cases; 10 

Complaint-based 
cases; 42 

Own initiative 
cases; 21 

Among the 37 new infringements launched by the 
Commission, Luxembourg received a letter of formal notice 
because its study grants are subject to a residence condition for 
migrant workers and their children. The Dutch purchasing 
power allowance (an old-age benefit) may also be contrary to 
EU rules to the extent that it is not 'exportable'.  

The Commission decided to refer four cases to the Court 

last year, including nationality-based discrimination on the 
index-linking of pensions in Belgium;27 the preferential 
treatment afforded by the law of an Italian province to residents 
applying for public sector posts;28 and non-conformity in the 
Dutch implementation of employee participation provisions in 
the event of cross-border mergers.29 

There was only one employment case where the 

Commission was not able to confirm Member State compliance 
with a Court judgment: Germany should abolish the residence 
condition for granting benefits for the blind, the deaf and the 
disabled30 if it does not want to be exposed to financial 
sanctions under Article 260(2) TFEU.  

Late transposition of directives 
17 infringements had to be opened during 2011 because there 
were no or only partial national implementing rules on 
employment matters. 10 late transposition infringements 
remained open in this policy area by end-2011. 15 
infringements were initiated due to lack of or incomplete 
Member State notifications under the Directive on temporary 
agency work.31 

Complaints handling 

The Commission received 269 complaints during 2011, 

well down on 2010 (321). In the area of free movement of 
workers, most of the complaints concerned access and working 
conditions in the public sector, which is a persistent problem 
area. Rules on many kinds of social security benefits provoked 
complaints: pensions, special non-contributory benefits, 
restrictive access to statutory health insurance and residence / 
presence conditions for sickness benefits for disabled. In the 
area of health and safety, complaints concerned mainly 
incorrect national provisions or ineffective application of 
preventive services, training and responsibilities of the 
employer. The Commission processed 260 employment 
complaints last year, notably those relating to working time. 
They included especially the files that had been closed without 

27  
28  
29  
30  
31  

IP/11/165. 
IP/11/1269. 
IP/11/1422. 
Commission v Germany, C-206/10. 
Directive 2008/104/EC. 

32  
33  
34  

Directive 89/391/EEC. 
Lucy Stewart., C-503/09. 
KHS AG, C-214/10. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
E N E R G Y  

General statistics 
The Commission had 149 open infringements in the area of 
energy at the end of 2011. This was the fifth-highest number of 
cases among the Commission’s 20 reporting policy areas. The 
following table shows the distribution of these cases according 
to their origins: 

Own-initiative cases  
The Commission continued investigating the conformity of 
national transposition rules with EU energy law. In particular, 
the Commission pursued infringements against several Member 
States which have incorrectly implemented the Second Energy 
Package and the directive on buildings’ energy performance.  

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 24 new EU Pilot files on energy issues 
during 2011 and processed 23 dossiers in this period. The 
Commission accepted the explanations or undertakings of the 
Member State concerned in 20 cases (87 % success rate). 43 
energy files remained open in EU Pilot by the end of 2011. 
Major infringements that were resolved before Court 
proceedings included the Polish rule obliging gas importers to 
maintain stocks in home facilities;41 and the refusal of the 
Italian authorities to recognise guarantees of origin from other 
Member States for the purposes of renewable electricity 
production.42  

Prominent judgments  
The Court issued two preliminary rulings of special importance. 
In the first case, it gave guidance on the conditions and limits of 
state intervention in the internal energy market. The Court 
found that the Italian regime on tender obligations of essential 
installations was compatible with the EU laws on the electricity 
market and dispatching services as long as these rules pass the 
proportionality test, which the national courts must carry out..43 
In the second case – an Italian law imposing an absolute ban on 
wind turbines (beyond self-consumption) in a Natura 2000 site 
(without an impact assessment) – the Court ruled that the ban 
was not necessarily contrary to the aim of the directive on 
renewable energy, provided that the national law complies with 
the principles of proportionality and non-discrimination.44 

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/energy/index_en.htm

149 infringements relating to EU law on energy

Own initiative 
cases; 42 

Complaints; 2

Non-communication 
cases; 105 

Almost all the 122 new infringements were due to the late 

transposition of energy directives by Member States.  

The Commission decided to refer three energy-related 
matters to the Court, a Spanish case related to shortcomings in 
the transposition of the directive on the energy performance of 
buildings35 and Bulgarian and Romanian cases related to lack of 
compliance with the requirements of the Gas Regulation.36  
Despite making significant progress, Belgium was still 
under possible financial sanctions under Article 260(2) TFEU at 
the end of 2011 due to the only partial implementation of two 
Court judgments37 concerning the Second Energy Package 
(Directives 2003/55/EC and 2003/54/EC).  

Late transposition of directives 
121 infringements had to be opened in the area of energy during 
2011 because there were no or only partial national 
transposition rules in all key energy sectors. Member States 
have been making rather slow progress with the transposition of 
energy directives: 105 such cases remained open by the end of 
2011. 

The Third Energy Package38 caused the most transposition 

problems in Member States; 38 infringements had to be 
launched against 19 Member States. No Member State was able 
to transpose the directive on renewable energy39 in time; 
accordingly, 27 infringements were launched. Finally, the 
directive on nuclear safety40 has triggered infringements against 
12 Member States due to missing or partial transposition. 

Complaints handling 
The Commission received 57 complaints on energy matters 
during 2011, a slight increase in comparison with 2010 (50 
incoming complaints). Complaints concentrated on the Third 
Energy Package and the renewable energy legislation. The 
Commission processed 42 energy complaints. It provided most 
complainants with a full response (27). By contrast, 11 
complaints on energy issues were transferred to EU Pilot so that 
Member States could examine the problem.  

35  
36  
37  
38  
39  
40  

Directive 2009/21/EC. 
Regulation 1775/2005 (replaced by Regulation 715/2009). 
Commission v Belgium, C-475/08 and C-474/08.  
Directives 2009/72/EC and 2009/73/EC. 
Directive 2009/28/EC. 
Directive 2009/71/Euratom. 

41  
42  
43  
44  

IP/10/945. 
IP/09/1799. 
Enel Produzione SpA, C-242/10. 
Azienda Agro-Zootecnica Franchini, C-2/10.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
                                                 
E N T E R P R I S E   A N D   I N D U S T R Y  

General statistics 
The Commission had 111 open infringement cases in the area of 
enterprise & industry by the end of 2011. This is the sixth-
highest number of cases among the 20 reporting policy areas. 
The table below shows the distribution of these cases as per 
their origins: 

111 infringements relating to EU law 
on enterprise and industry 

in the motor vehicles sector (registration, taxes, etc.), 
pharmaceutical products and foodstuffs and food supplements. 
The Commission processed 117 enterprise and industrial 
complaints last year. Most files (66) were closed without further 
action following the Commission’s full response to the 
complainant. 35 complaints were transferred to EU Pilot so that 
Member States could react to them.  

No petition or question arrived from the EP or MEPs that 

would have triggered an infringement procedure. 

Complaint-based 
cases; 26 

Own initiative 
cases; 2 

Late transposition 
cases 83 

Own-initiative cases  
Only a small number of own-initiative cases were launched.  

Applying the Treaty provisions on the free movement of 

goods continued to represent the bulk of the infringement work. 
The 125 new infringements invoking enterprise & industry 
matters in 2011 included two letters of formal notice to Greece 
due to the incorrect implementation of the late payment 
directive;45 and an infringement against Italy due to the 
incorrect application of the construction products directive.46 
The Commission decided to bring three enterprise & 
industry cases before the Court: one against Greece because of 
the obstacles to market bake-off products;47 and two other cases 
against Poland and Lithuania due to their ban on registering cars 
with the steering wheel on the right.48  

The Commission urged the Greek authorities to fully 

comply with the second Court judgment in order to halt the 
payment of daily penalties imposed by the Court due to the total 
ban on games machines.49  

Late transposition of directives 
In the area of enterprise & industry, 117 infringements had to be 
opened during 2011 because there were no or only partial 
national implementing rules for various directives. 

Fifteen infringements had to be initiated due to late 
transposition of the toy safety directive50, but all of them were 
closed before the end of 2011. A further 19 infringements were 
launched due to the delayed transposition of the directive on the 
transfer of defence-related products;51 however, nine Member 
States had notified their implementing measures before the end 
of the year, thus allowing the Commission to close these 
infringements once the measures had been assessed. The 
directives amending the legislation in the automotive sector52 
generated 23 late transposition infringements altogether, with 
11 of them still open at the end of 2011.  

Complaints handling 
The Commission received 124 complaints in the area of 
enterprise & industry during 2011, a moderate decrease over 
2010 (156 incoming complaints).  

The vast majority of complaints continued to target the 
Treaty provisions on the free movement of goods,53 especially 

45  
46  
47  
48  
49  
50  
51  
52  
53  

Directive 2000/35/EC. 
Directive 89/106/EEC. 
IP/11/1415. 
IP/11/1111 and IP/11/1251. 
Commission v Greece, C-65/05 and C-109/08.  
Directive 2009/48/EC. 
Directive 2009/43/EC. 
Directives 2010/62/EU, 2010/52/EU, 2010/22/EU and 2010/19/EU. 
Articles 34-36 TFEU.  

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 35 new EU Pilot files on enterprise & 
industry matters during 2011 and processed 42 dossiers in this 
period. 35 assessments were positive, i.e. the Commission 
accepted the explanations or the undertakings of the Member 
State concerned (83 % success rate). 48 files remained open in 
EU Pilot by the end of last year.  

Major infringements in this policy area that were settled 
without litigation before the Court included three procedures 
against France on adaptations to the regulatory framework for 
phyto-pharmaceutical products; and one procedure against 
Denmark to lift the total ban on the sale of certain energy drinks. 

Prominent judgments  
The Court passed two important judgments in the field of 
enterprise & industry in 2011. In the first, it ruled against the 
sectoral driving ban imposed by Austria for heavy goods 
vehicles on its A12 motorway.54 In the second, it ruled on 
Poland’s failure to transpose the framework directive on the 
approval of motor vehicles.55  

Further information available at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/index_en.htm 

54  
55  

Commission v Austria, C-28/09.  
Commission v Poland, C-311/10.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
E N V I R O N M E N T  

MEPs, most of them (18) invoking nature protection and 
environmental impact policy issues. 

Own-initiative cases  
The Commission systematically monitors correct transposition 
of key environmental directives especially in the sectors of 
waste, impact assessment and water and all new EU legislation. 
Most of the Commission’s own initiative cases are related to the 
environment.  

Bad application of EU environmental acquis by the 

Member States also triggered infringements, for example: 
failure to close all sub-standard landfills, non-compliance with 
EU air quality standards (PM10); violation of hunting rules or 
derogation conditions; tolerating installations without IPPC 
permits; lack of river basin management plans. 

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 358 new environmental files in EU 
Pilot during 2011 and processed 399 dossiers in this period. 350 
assessments were positive, i.e. the Commission accepted the 
explanations or the undertakings of the Member State concerned 
(88 % success rate). 335environment files remained open in EU 
Pilot by the end of 2011.  

In 2011, important cases were closed due to Member State 

compliance, e.g. the corrections made in Polish law increased 
the compliance with the environmental impact assessment rules 
and the Czech authorities correctly designated special protection 
areas for birds.64  

Prominent judgments  
The Court delivered four major environmental rulings in 2011. 
It confirmed that Ireland incorrectly transposed the 
environmental impact assessment directive,65 and ruled against 
Spain for lack of conservation measures in the Macaronesian 
bio-geographical region.66 Two important judgements 
interpreted the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. In 
the first the Court ruled that this directive did not apply to 
projects that had been adopted by a specific legislative act, if the 
directive's objectives have been achieved in the law-making 
process.67 The second confirmed that NGOs may contest a 
decision on a project's environmental effects by relying on rules 
protecting only the general public interest (without defending 
individual interests).68 

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/environment/index_en.htm 

General statistics 
Most of the active infringement cases in 2011 (299) were in the 
environment field among the 20 reporting policy areas. The 
following table shows the origins of these cases: 

299 infringements relating to 
EU environmental law 

Complaint-based cases; 84 

Late transposition cases; 41

Own initiative cases; 174

114 new environmental infringements were initiated 

during 2011. The Commission decided to submit 18 
environmental cases to the Court, including four referrals for the 
late adoption of river basin management plans under the water 
framework directive,56 three referrals due to the lack of 
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) permits for 
factories57, and two referrals for non-compliance with PM10 
limit values.58 Still, many infringements remained open due to 
non-compliance with IPPC permits and PM10 values. 

By the end of 2011 56 Court judgments still awaited full 

implementation by Member States. The Commission is 
monitoring closely the actions taken by Member States which, 
in some cases, take a certain time to ensure full compliance. 
One of the key challenges is the correct implementation of EU 
waste law. In 2011 a second referral was decided in three cases, 
against Ireland (two cases on improper checks on septic tanks 
and insufficient impact assessment legislation) and Luxembourg 
(inadequate urban waste water treatment).59 

Late transposition of directives 
58 infringements were opened during 2011 because of late 
transposition of environmental directives.  

In particular, the Commission launched infringement cases 

against 23 Member States for failure to transpose the waste 
framework directive in good time.60 

Poland was referred to the Court with a request for 
financial sanctions under Article 260(3) TFEU61 due to the late 
transposition of the directives on ambient air quality62 and 
marine strategy framework.63 

Complaints handling 
The Commission received 604 complaints on environmental 
matters during 2011, a slight decrease in registered files over 
2010 (669 incoming complaints).  

The three sectors receiving the most complaints were 

nature protection (±200), waste (±100) and water (±60). 605 
environmental complaints were processed last year. Nearly two 
thirds of them (395) were closed with a full response, while 149 
were transferred to EU Pilot for Member States to react.  

Two infringement cases (against Greece and Cyprus) and 

27 bilateral discussions were launched by the Commission upon 
petitions and questions from the European Parliament and 

56  
57  
58  
59  
60  
61  
62  
63  

IP/11/438. 
IP/11/305, IP/11/433 and IP/11/593. 
IP/11/435 and IP/11/596. 
IP/11/168, IP/11/592 and IP/11/1273. 
Directive 2008/98/EC. 
IP/11/1434. 
Directive 2008/50/EC. 
Directive 2008/56/EC. 

64  
65  
66  
67  
68  

IP/07/938. 
Commission v Ireland, C-50/09.  
Commission v Spain, C-90/10.  
Boxus and Others, C-128/09.  
Trianel, C-115/09.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
H O M E   A F F A I R S  

General statistics 
The Commission had 60 open infringement cases in the area of 
home affairs at the end of 2011. This is the eleventh-highest 
number of cases among the 20 reporting policy areas, broken 
down as follows:  

60 infringements in relation to 
EU law on home affairs 

Complaint-based 
cases; 2 

Own initiative 
cases; 4 

Late transposition 
cases; 54 

The 78 new infringements initiated by the Commission in 
relation to home affairs included three cases against Germany, 
Romania and the Czech Republic on the data retention 
directive.69 In October 2011, the Commission sent a reasoned 
opinion to Germany and Romania.70  

The Court had already ruled against Greece, Ireland, 
Sweden and Austria due to their failure to transpose the same 
directive.71 In the absence of compliance with the judgment, the 
Commission decided to refer Sweden to the Court for the 
second time under Article 260(2) TFEU with a request for 
financial penalty.72 Austria made significant progress on 
complying with the judgment by the Court. After adoption of 
national legislations transposing the directive, the proceedings 
against Greece and Ireland were closed. 

Late transposition of directives 
76 infringements had to be opened during 2011 because there 
were no or only partial national implementing rules for 
directives.  

Member States had to transpose key home affairs 

directives in 2011. However, 20 of them missed the deadline for 
the Blue Card directive;73 20 infringements each were launched 
due to the late transposition of the directive on employer 
sanctions74 and of the return directive75; and 13 such 
infringements were launched under the critical infrastructures 
directive.76 

Complaints handling 
The Commission received 123 home affairs complaints during 
2011, a significant increase over 2010 (72 incoming complaints). 
Most complaints concerned visa policy ('unfair' visa imposition 
on third-country nationals, visa facilitation agreements with 
Eastern Partnership countries and Russia). Of the 73 complaints 
processed, more than half (44) were closed after a full reply had 
been sent to the complainant. 10 complaints were transferred to 
EU Pilot so that Member States could react to them.  

The Commission launched investigations upon a petition 

from the European Parliament on the functioning of the EU-

69  
70  

71  

72  
73  
74  
75  
76  

Directive 2006/24/EC. 
IP/11/1248 (the reasoned opinion to the Czech Republic was sent in 
March 2012). 
Commission v Greece, C-211/09, Commission v Ireland, C-202/09, 
Commission v Sweden, C-185/09 and Commission v Austria, C-
189/09. 
Commission v Sweden, C-270/11.  
Directive 2009/50/EC. 
Directive 2009/52/EC. 
Directive 2008/115/EC. 
Directive 2008/114/EC. 

Russia Visa Fee Waiver Agreement, which was later closed due 
to the compliance of the Member State. Investigations on the 
application of the Long-Term Residents Directive77 in a 
Member State were still open at the end of the year. 

Own-initiative cases  
The Commission launched investigations against five Member 
States in order to examine whether their border measures 
(obstacles to fluid traffic flow, camera surveillance and the 
application of carrier's liability on intra-Schengen flights) were 
compatible with the Schengen Borders Code. The investigations 
were still open by the end of the year. 

Commission investigations regarding the use of 

phallometric testing in asylum procedures were closed as the 
Member State concerned ceased the practice. 

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 19 new home affairs files in EU Pilot 
in 2011. It processed ten dossiers in this period; six of them 
with a positive result, i.e. the explanations or undertakings of 
the Member State were accepted (60 % success rate). 22 home 
affairs files remained open in EU Pilot by the end of last year.  

Two infringement proceedings could be closed without the 

need to refer the Member States to the Court: France removed 
the obstacles to fluid traffic flow at its internal borders with 
Belgium, Spain and Luxembourg78; and Austria amended its 
laws on foreign students’ access to the labour market in order to 
make it compatible with the Students Directive. 79 

Prominent judgments  
Two preliminary rulings from the Court clarified the extent to 
which the Return Directive allows national laws to criminalise 
irregular stays in a Member State. In principle, imprisonment 
may not be imposed on the sole ground that a person remains on 
the territory of a Member State contrary to a leave order;80 
however, the unjustified illegal stay may lead to such sanction, 
if the person concerned was subject to the return procedure.81 

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/index_en.htm 

77  
78  
79  
80  
81  

Directive 2003/109/EC. 
Regulation 562/2006 
Directive 2004/114/EC. 
PPU – El Dridi, C-61/11.  
Achughbabian, C-329/11.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
J U S T I C E ,   F U N D A M E N T A L   R I G H T S   A N D   C I T I Z E N S H I P  

infringements against the UK (on visa requirements and the 
acquisition of permanent residence by EU citizens from new 
Member States) and three preliminary investigations (on issuing 
civil status certificates in view of same-sex marriages or 
partnerships, on storage of biometric data in travel documents 
and on residence right for third-country family members of EU 
citizens).  

Own-initiative cases  
Besides the above general action against 12 Member States, the 
Commission verified the correctness of national transposition 
measures for the anti-discrimination and unfair commercial 
practices directives.88  

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 54 new files in EU Pilot and processed 
in total 59 files in 2011. In 48 cases, the Commission accepted 
the Member States’ explanations or undertakings (81% success 
rate). By end 2011, 62 files remained open in EU Pilot.  

Concerning the repatriation of Roma, the action taken by 
France ensured compliance with the free movement directive. 
Other infringements settled out of Court included the cases on 
belated delivery of residence documents in the UK and the non-
enforceability of a judgment issued by an Italian court in Latvia 
in a case of child abduction.  

Prominent judgments  
Greece had to pay a penalty of € 3 million for the late 
transposition of the directive on compensation to crime 
victims.89  

In preliminary rulings, the Court held that: a derogation 
from the unisex rule in individuals’ insurance premiums and 
benefits is invalid as of end 2012;90 Member States cannot take 
measures forcing EU citizens to leave the EU;91 they are obliged 
to respect the Charter of Fundamental Rights when 
implementing EU law.92 

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/index_en.htm 

General statistics 
The Commission had 72 open infringement cases in this area at 
the end of 2011. This was the eight-highest number of cases 
among the 20 reporting policy areas, broken down as follows: 

72 infringements relating to EU law in 
the area of justice 

Complaint-based 

cases; 15 

Late transposition
cases; 29 

Own initiative 
cases; 28 

Out of 87 new infringements initiated in the area of justice, 

12 concerned a general action against 12 Member States 
relating to citizens’ rights to free movement.82 In addition, 
infringements were launched concerning the draft Hungarian 
legislation on the retirement age of judges and prosecutors, and 
on the independence of the data protection supervisory authority 
and of the judiciary. 

The Commission referred two cases to the Court claiming 

that the Belgian doorstep selling ban on goods or services in 
excess of € 250 breached the directive on unfair commercial 
practices83, and contesting the Italian laws for failing to grant 
reasonable accommodation at work to disabled persons.  

In the only case where a Member State did not comply 

with a previous Court judgment, 84 Commission action led 
Germany to take measures to ensure the independence of its 
data protection supervisory authority in order to avoid financial 
sanctions under Article 260(2) TFEU.  

Late transposition of directives 
71 infringements were opened because there were no or only 
partial national rules transposing justice directives. 

In particular, 19 Member States missed the transposition 

deadline for the directive on mediation in civil and commercial 
matters85 (but only four received reasoned opinions). 15 
Member States failed to transpose the directive on timeshares86 
on time, but almost all took action by the end of 2011.  

Complaints handling 
The Commission received 433 complaints on justice matters 
during 2011, a slight decrease over 2010 (456 incoming 
complaints). Justice complaints covered all policy areas, 
especially the right to free movement (residence cards, family 
members’ rights, and expulsions), discrimination and consumer 
protection (unfair contract terms and practices, faulty products). 
Citizens are increasingly raising fundamental rights issues, such 
as manifestations of racism and xenophobia or access to justice. 
The first Annual Report on the Charter of Fundamental Rights87 
serves also as guidance for complainants on how the rights and 
freedoms in the Charter are protected.  

The Commission processed 524 justice complaints last 
year. In most cases, the Commission delivered a full response to 
complainants (338). Ten complaints were transferred to EU 
Pilot for Member States’ reaction.  

Upon petitions and questions from the European 
Parliament and MEPs, the Commission launched two 

82  
83  
84  
85  
86  
87  

IP/11/981 and IP/12/75. 
IP/11/1096. 
Commission v Germany, C-518/07.  
Directive 2008/52/EC. 
Directive 2008/122/EC. 
Report on the Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. 

88  
89  
90  
91  
92  

Directives 2000/43/EC, 2000/78/EC and 2005/29/EC. 
Commission v Greece, C-407/09 and IP/12/168. 
Association Belge des Consommateurs Test-Achats, C-236/09.  
Ruiz Zambrano, C-34/09.  
N. S. and Others, C-411/10 and C-493/10.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
I N T E R N A L   M A R K E T   A N D   S E R V I C E S  

General statistics 
The Commission was managing 262 open infringement cases in 
the area of internal market & services by the end of 2011. This 
is the third-highest caseload among the 20 reporting policy 
areas, broken down as follows:  

The Commission processed 531 internal market complaints 
last year. Many of them (378) had been followed up and closed 
with the Commission’s full response to the complainant. 97 
complaints had been transferred to EU Pilot for Member States 
to consider.  

262 infringements relating to EU law 
on the internal market & services 

Complaint-based 

cases; 83 

Own initiative 
cases; 39 

Late transposition 
cases; 140 

The 228 new internal market infringements launched by 
the Commission during 2011 included letters of formal notice 
against Malta (due to incorrect transposition of the directive on 
new public procurement remedies), Poland (on the possibly 
unjustified exclusion criteria in the national procurement law), 
and the UK (public bids for software submitted to the Office of 
Government Commerce). 

Four Member States were referred to the Court due to 
internal market infringements: Greece (restricted investment in 
strategic companies),93 Italy (the state’s special rights under the 
privatisation law),94 Cyprus (restrictions on buying secondary 
residences)95 and Slovenia (incorrect transposition of the Third 
Non-Life Insurance Directive).96 

There were 28 internal market infringements at the end of 
2011 where the Court had ruled against the Member States but 
they had not complied with the judgments. Depending on the 
Member States’ progress in implementing these judgments, 
financial sanctions under Article 260(2) TFEU may be 
requested by the Commission. 

Late transposition of directives 
198 infringements were initiated during 2011 due to no or only 
partial national implementing rules in the internal market area.  
In particular, 23 infringements were initiated under each of 

the following three key directives: one on defence and security 
procurement,97 another on the powers of the European 
Supervisory Authorities for Banking, Insurance, Pensions, and 
Securities,98 and a third implementing the UCITS IV rules.99 
Besides, infringements were pursued against the three Member 
States which had still not transposed the Services Directive.100  
Efforts had to be maintained at a very high level in the 
financial services sector (due to a new wave of directives) and 
in the field of public procurement. 

Complaints handling 
The Commission received 530 complaints on internal market 
matters during 2011, a slight decrease over 2010 (597 incoming 
complaints).  

Public procurement, freedom to provide services, freedom 
of establishment and regulated professions (mutual recognition 
of diplomas) attracted the most complaints in 2011.  

93  
94  
95  
96  
97  
98  
99  
100  

IP/11/179. 
IP/11/1443.  
IP/11/1442. 
IP/11/181. 
Directive 2009/81/EC. 
Directive 2010/78/EU. 
Directive 2009/65/EC. 
Directive 2006/123/EC. 

Own-initiative cases  
The Commission’s 39 own-initiative infringements covered 
problems in the areas of public procurement, free provision of 
services, insurance and pensions and free movement of capital.  

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 128 new internal market files in EU 
Pilot during 2011 and processed 188 dossiers in this period. 168 
assessments were positive, i.e. the Commission accepted the 
explanations or the undertakings of the Member State concerned 
(89 % success rate). 129 internal market files remained open in 
EU Pilot by the end of last year.  

The internal market developments taken during 2011 
before a Court ruling included the adoption of a new Czech law 
on the public procurement of certain goods to be used in the 
military sector;101 the decision of the Portuguese authorities to 
organize a public tender for the supply of notebooks to students 
and teachers;102 the elimination of the ban on foreign currency 
mortgages by Hungary; and the new Austrian laws on 
agricultural land acquisition in Vorarlberg.  

Prominent judgments  
In a series of judgments, the Court found that the nationality 
requirement imposed on public notaries was incompatible with 
the Treaty.103 However, the Court dismissed a Commission 
action against Spain because the contracts within the framework 
of 'integrated action programmes' in the Valencian Community 
did not aim primarily at the performance of works that required 
public tendering.104 By contrast, the Court found that several 
Spanish restrictions on the opening of hypermarkets in certain 
areas were contrary to the freedom of establishment.105  

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/internal_market/index_en.htm 

101  
102  
103  
104  
105  

IP/11/1440. 
IP/11/83. 
Court press release no. 50/11. 
Commission v Spain. C-306/08.  
Commission v Spain. C-400/08.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
M O B I L I T Y   A N D   T R A N S P O R T  

General statistics 
The Commission had 287 open infringement cases in the area of 
mobility and transport at the end of 2011. This is the second-
highest number of cases among the 22 reporting policy areas. 
The following table shows the distribution of these cases 
according to their origins: 

Commission’s full response to the complainant (48). Nine 
transport complaints were transferred to EU Pilot so that 
Member States could react to them.  

No petition or question arrived from the EP or MEPs that 

would have triggered an infringement procedure under EU 
transport law.  

Own-initiative cases  
Both general actions highlighted in the first section (bilateral air 
services agreements with Russia and self-employed drivers) 
were started at the Commission’s own initiative. In addition, the 
Commission launched infringements against five Member 
States on bad application of quality control rules in the civil 
aviation security sector. 

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 170 new mobility and transport files in 
EU Pilot during 2011 and processed 58 dossiers in this period. 
37 assessments were positive, i.e. the Commission accepted the 
explanations or the undertakings of the Member State (64 % 
success rate). 129 mobility and transport files remained open in 
EU Pilot at the end of last year.  

Significant infringements in the field of transport that the 

Commission was ready to close upon Member States' 
compliance in 2011 included the dispute on the Irish air travel 
tax;113 the discriminatory treatment of 'Class 66' locomotives by 
Polish authorities; and the Greek rules restricting the freedom to 
provide services related to maritime cabotage.  

Prominent judgments  
The Court did not hand down any major judgment in the 
transport field in 2011. Judgments are awaited on a series of 
cases relating to the First Railway Package.  

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/index_en.htm

287 infringements relating to  
EU mobility and transport law  

Complaint-based 
cases; 11 

Own initiative 
cases; 86 

Late transposition 
cases; 190 

284 infringements were initiated in relation to transport 

issues during 2011, including two general actions: one against 
22 Member States for their bilateral air services agreements 
with Russia106, and another involving 12 Member States for 
excluding self-employed drivers from the scope of the drivers’ 
working time directive (2002/15/EC). 

Five transport-related infringements were referred to the 

Court in 2011. In particular, Italy and Luxembourg were 
claimed to have improperly implemented the First Railway 
Package.107  

In the only transport-related case where Member State 

compliance with a previous Court judgment was still lacking, 
Spain made significant efforts to follow the Court ruling108 on 
service provision in ports of general interest (harbour dues).  

Late transposition of directives 
The 12 transport-related directives with transposition deadline 
in 2011 triggered 240 infringements because there were no or 
only partial national implementing rules. By the end of the year, 
190 late transposition infringements remained open. 

Late transposition of the directive on driving licences109 
called for infringement procedures against 20 Member States. 
21 late transposition infringements were started under the 
airport charges directive110 and another 15 under the directive 
on ship owners’ insurance against maritime claims.111 

The Commission decided to refer to the Court two further 

cases with a proposal for financial sanctions under Article 
260(3) TFEU: both cases are related to railway transport and are 
against Germany.112 

Complaints handling 
The Commission received 65 complaints on mobility and 
transport matters during 2011, a notable decrease over 2010 (93 
incoming complaints). 

Most of the complaints claimed a violation of passenger 
rights, especially the rights of air passengers. The road safety 
sector likewise attracted numerous complaints, in particular on 
driving licence matters. 

The Commission processed 76 transport complaints last 
year. Most files were closed without further steps due to the 

106  
107  
108  
109  
110  
111  
112  

IP/11/186. 
A detailed description is available here. 
Commission v Spain, C-18/09.  
Directive 2006/126/EC (recast). 
Directive 2009/12/EC. 
Directive 2009/20/EC. 
Directive 2008/57/EC and Directive 2008/110/EC. 

113  

IP/11/734. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
H E A L T H   A N D   C O N S U M E R S  

General statistics 
The Commission had 51 open infringement cases in the area of 
health & consumers at the end of 2011.This is the twelfth-
highest number of cases among the 20 reporting policy areas, 
which broke down according to origin as follows: 

51 infringements relating to EU 
health & consumers law  

Complaint-based 
cases; 20 

Late transposition 
cases; 10 

Own initiative 
cases; 21 

The 174 new infringements that the Commission launched 
in the field of health & consumers in 2011 included actions due 
to the non-cooperation of German customs services with the 
Food and Veterinary Office and the incorrect Slovak and 
Slovene transposition of the directive that protects consumers’ 
interests with injunctions.114 

The Commission decided to refer five disputes to the Court 
on points of EU health & consumer law in 2011: the Polish ban 
on genetically modified (GM) feed115 and the incorrect 
transposition of the directive on the contained use of GM micro-
organisms;116 the French refusal to apply the decision on 
scrapie,117 and the incorrect Italian and Swedish transpositions 
of the directive on distance marketing of financial services.118  
In six cases, Member States failed to comply by the end 

of2011 with a Court judgment condemning their measures. To 
avoid penalties under Article 260(2) TFEU, Greece has to apply 
correctly the regulation on animal by-products not intended for 
human consumption,119 improve animal welfare120 and increase 
its control resources;121 and Poland has to abolish its ban on GM 
seed varieties.122  

Late transposition of directives 
164 infringements were opened during 2011 due to no or only 
partial national transpositions in the health & consumers area.  

Of the key policy instruments in this field with 
transposition deadline in 2011, 19 Member States failed to 
notify their national transposition measures for the directive on 
the sustainable use of pesticides.123 The directive on derogations 
for the marketing of fodder plant seed mixtures triggered late 
transposition infringements against 14 Member States.  

Complaints handling 
The Commission received 99 complaints on health & 
consumers matters during 2011, a slight decrease over 2010 
(121 incoming complaints).  

Complaints targeted the public health, food safety and 

animal welfare sectors.  

The Commission processed 130 health & consumers 
complaints last year. Most of the files (79) were closed with the 
Commission’s full response to the complainant. 36 complaints 

114  
115  
116  
117  
118  
119  
120  
121  
122  
123  

IP/12/184. 
IP/11/292. 
IP/11/293. 
IP/11/601. 
IP/11/1091 and IP/11/98. 
Commission v Greece, C-248/08.  
Commission v Greece, C-416/07.  
Commission v Greece, C-331/07.  
Commission v Poland, C-165/08.  
Directive 2009/128/EC. 

were transferred to EU Pilot so that Member States could react 
to them.  

At the initiative of the European Parliament, the 

Commission investigated six petitions, claiming an 
infringement of EU rules on animal by-products, plant health, 
pet transport, medical devices, public health and food safety.  

Own-initiative cases  
Two general actions were prepared in the health & consumers 
field during 2011: one aimed at monitoring compliance with the 
prohibition on rearing laying hens in un-enriched cages;124 the 
other targeted the correct transposition of the directive on 
protecting consumers’ interests with injunctions. In addition, 
sustained efforts were necessary to ensure the proper 
transposition of directives on consumer protection and GM 
organisms. 

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 63 new EU Pilot files on health & 
consumers matters during 2011 and processed 86 dossiers in 
this period. 67 assessments were positive, i.e. the Commission 
accepted the explanations or the undertakings of the Member 
State concerned (78 % success rate). 94 files remained open in 
EU Pilot by the end of last year.  

Of the infringements in this field that were closed without 

Court proceedings in 2011 it is useful to note the corrections 
made by the Czech Republic, Ireland and the United Kingdom 
to comply with the directive on the contained use of GM micro-
organisms;125 similar efforts were made by the Netherlands, 
Spain and Slovenia to achieve correct transposition of the 
directive on distance marketing of financial services.126  

Prominent judgments  
The Court ruled that Portugal and Luxembourg have to refund 
the costs of non-hospital medical care127 and medical biology 
analyses,128 respectively, when done in another Member State.  
The Court dismissed the French application for the partial 

annulment of the TSE Regulation129 by confirming that  
determining what risk is deemed unacceptable for society is a 
policy choice and not a court decision.130  

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/index_en.htm 

124  
125  
126  
127  
128  
129  
130  

Directive 1999/74/EC. 
Directive 2009/41/EC. 
Directive 2002/65/EC. 
Commission v Portugal, C-255/09, IP/08/1517. 
Commission v Luxembourg, C-490/09, IP/08/1517. 
Regulation 999/2001. 
France v Commission, T-257/07, IP/11/601. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
T A X A T I O N   A N D   C U S T O M S   U N I O N  

In all tax issues raised by the European Parliament in 
complaints or petitions during 2011, the Commission had 
already engaged in discussions with the Member State.  

Own-initiative cases  
Because of their potential impact on the EU’s own resources, 
the Commission closely scrutinises tax exemptions. It also 
monitored the correct application of the Court’s case law on the 
leasing and use of company cars. Discriminatory taxes on 
inheritance and gifts as well as 'exit taxes' (payable when 
companies' headquarters or individuals’ residences are 
transferred) continue to trigger many own-initiative cases. 

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 169 new tax files in EU Pilot during 
2011 and processed 94 dossiers in this period. 70 assessments 
were positive, i.e. the Commission accepted the explanations or 
the undertakings of the Member State (74 % success rate). 117 
tax files remained open in EU Pilot by the end of last year.  
Significant tax problems that were resolved during the 
formal infringement procedure included the discriminatory tax 
amnesty in Greece136 and the VAT exemption granted for postal 
services in Spain, Austria, Finland, Italy and Slovenia.  

Prominent judgments  
The Court confirmed that a reduced VAT rate could not be 
applied to the sale of race-horses137. A German dividend tax 
was also judged to be contrary to the free movement of 
capital138 because it was higher on dividends that were paid to 
foreign companies than those due on dividends paid to domestic 
companies.  

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/index_en.htm 

General statistics 
The Commission was managing 215 open infringement cases in 
the taxation area at the end of 2011. This is the fourth- highest 
number of cases among the 20 reporting policy areas. The 
following table shows the distribution of these cases according 
to their origins:  

215 infringements relating to EU taxation law

Late 
transposition 
cases; 2

Ow n initiative 
cases; 84

Com plaint-
based cases; 
129

In addition to the 80 new tax cases initiated during 2011, 

the Commission delivered reasoned opinions to Ireland and 
Spain due to their tax rules on leased or rented cars.131  

The Commission decided to take 23 tax cases to the Court 

last year, including referrals against nine Member States for 
incorrectly applying the special VAT margin scheme for travel 
agencies;132 and against Spain for its discriminatory tax on 
inheritance and gifts.133  
In 16 tax cases, the Commission was unable to confirm that 
Member States had complied with the Court judgment 
condemning their measures. These Member States might be 
exposed to financial sanctions under Article 260(2) TFEU.  

Late transposition of directives 
38 infringements had to be opened during 2011 because there 
were no or only partial national implementing rules in the area 
of taxation. Thanks to rapid compliance, only two such cases 
remained open by the end of last year.  

As a particular example, the transposition of VAT refund 

rules134 into national law required particularly serious efforts 
from national authorities. Even though 12 infringements had to 
be launched because of partial or no notifications by the 
deadline (end of 2010), the Commission was able to close all 
cases by mid-2011. 

Complaints handling 
The Commission received 411 complaints on taxation matters 
during 2011. This is a notable increase i over 2010 (375 
incoming complaints) and is probably due to the fact that some 
Member States introduced tax measures during the financial 
crisis that were questionable under EU law.  

Tax-related complaints echo the public opinion that car 
registration taxes are contradictory to the idea of an internal 
market.135 Many citizens’ complaints concerned discriminatory 
taxation of cross-border workers. And many complaints concern 
Member States’ double taxation treaties. 

The Commission processed 384 tax complaints last year. 
This included especially the files that had been closed without 
further steps due to the Commission’s full response to the 
complainant (244) or its lack of competence (6). 70 tax 
complaints were transferred to EU Pilot so that Member States 
could react to them.  

131  
132  
133  
134  
135  

IP/11/1281. 
IP/11/76 and IP/11/716. 
IP/11/1278. 
Directive 2010/66/EU. 
The Council did not support the Commission’s 2005 proposal for a 
Directive abolishing car registration taxes.  

136  
137  

138  

IP/11/161. 
Commission v the Netherlands, C-41/09; Commission v Austria, 
C-441/09  and Commission v Germany, C-453/09.  
Commission v Germany, C-284/09.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
F I N A N C I A L   P R O G R A M M I N G   A N D   B U D G E T  

General developments 
In 2011, the Commission detected 309 anomalies in the area 
of traditional own resources and set 67 VAT reservations139. 
Subsequently, 844 accounting actions for traditional own 
resources and 185 for VAT were generated for potential 
corrective payments (principal amounts and belated interest) 
by Member States. Most of the newly detected anomalies 
were solved at an early stage in bilateral discussions with 
Member States, including senior- level management meetings, 
or in the Advisory Committee on Own Resources. 

However, a letter of formal notice was sent to Portugal 

because it changed its GNI data for a period subject to a 
Commission reservation without adjusting the GNI- and 
VAT-based contributions to be paid to the EU budget 
accordingly.  

Prominent judgments  
The Court passed two important judgments in the field of 
financial programming and the budget in 2011. In the first 
case, it held that the Court of Auditors cannot be hindered by 
Member States in conducting audits of VAT cooperation 
mechanisms between Member States, as they are linked to  

the EU’s own resources.140 In the second case, the Court held 
Member States financially responsible for administrative 
errors (such as the acceptance of customs declarations which 
do not state the real weight of the imported goods), which 
result in the loss of traditional own resources for the EU 
budget.141 

Follow-up of Court judgments 
The Commission referred several infringements to the Court 
because of loss of traditional own resources related to the 
importation of military and dual-use goods by seven Member 
States (Denmark,142 Finland,143 Germany,144 Greece,145 
Italy,146 Portugal147 and Sweden148). While all Member States 
concerned paid the principal amount after the judgments, 
they still owed the EU the belated interest, which amounted 
to approximately € 300 million. The Commission requested 
data from these Member States in order to calculate the 
accurate amounts of belated interest.  By the end of 2011, all 
the Member States paid the amounts of interest due to the EU 
budget. 

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/index_en.htm 

139  

Regulation 1553/1989 and Regulation 1150/2000.  

140  
141  
142  
143  
144  
145  
146  
147  
148  

Commission v Germany, C-539/09.  
Commission v Portugal, C-23/10.  
Commission v Denmark, C-461/05.  
Commission v Finland, C-284/05.  
Commission v Germany, C-372/05.  
Commission v Greece, C-409/05.  
Commission v Italy, C-387/05 and C-239/06.  
Commission v Portugal, C-38/06.  
Commission v Sweden, C-294/05.  

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
C O M P E T I T I O N  

General developments 
In 2011 a key priority for the Commission in the area of 
compliance with competition rules were the substantial 
spectrum resources (the ‘digital dividend’) freed up by the 
introduction of digital terrestrial television broadcasting. This 
provides an opportunity to authorise further television 
channels and increase competition and consumer choice. The 
Commission continued investigating several Member States 
that have assigned parts of the ‘digital dividend’ to 
incumbent operators under procedures which do not appear, 
prima facie, to be based on transparent, objective and non-
discriminatory criteria. 

Accordingly, the Commission sent a letter of formal 
notice to Bulgaria because the national law that governed the 
tenders for the assignment of the digital terrestrial 
broadcasting spectrum potentially violates the directives on 
electronic communications149 and the competition 
directive.150 In addition, a reasoned opinion was sent to 
France requiring it to allocate digital TV broadcasting 
frequencies in a non-discriminatory fashion.151 

Follow-up of State aid decisions 
Ordering a Member State to recover incompatible State aid 
following a Commission decision and Court judgment under 
Article 108 TFEU constitutes an important component of the 
infringement work in the area of competition. These 
proceedings are governed by Article 260(2) TFEU, which 
means that the Commission may request financial sanctions 
against the defaulting Member State. 

One of the infringement procedures against Spain 

regarding the fiscal aid schemes in the three Basque 
Provinces (Álava, Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya) was closed since 
the entire aid plus recovery interest had been recovered from 
all beneficiary companies.  

Prominent judgments  
The Court ruled against Italy because of its failure to recover 
illegal State aid for employment under training and work 
experience contracts and imposed a lump sum penalty of € 30 
million as well as periodic penalties, which can decrease 
proportionately to any aid still unrecovered.152  

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/competition/index_en.htm  

149  
150  
151  

Directives 2002/21/EC and 2002/20/EC. 
Directive 2002/77/EC. 
IP/11/1115.  

152  

Commission v Italy, C-496/09.  

 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
                                                 
M A R I T I M E   A F F A I R S   A N D   F I S H E R I E S  

Verifying compliance with Court judgments  
In the field of EU law related to maritime affairs and fisheries 
the following developments are worth noting:  

The Court ruled against Spain finding that it did not 
carry out sufficient controls on landings and marketing of 
undersized fish and did not take the necessary repressive 
action against those acting in breach of the corresponding EU 
rules.153 The Spanish authorities have notified the 
Commission the measures they have taken in order to apply 
the judgment. The Commission carried out an inspection in 
late 2011 to verify whether these measures were being fully 
implemented. The results were under assessment at the end 
of 2011.  

The Court found that France breached the EU rules 
relating to the restricted use of driftnets by not monitoring the 
relevant fishing activities sufficiently thoroughly and not 
enforcing the corresponding rules properly.154 The 
Commission has launched a procedure to verify the correct 
application of the Court judgment. It was found that the 
French authorities had introduced legislative, administrative 
and control measures for the purpose of ensuring full 
compliance with the EU rules. The French authorities 
indicated that they had strengthened their national 

regulatory framework on driftnets and tightened up their 
checks. The Commission’s on-site inspections confirmed the 
effectiveness of these measures; the infringement procedure 
was therefore closed in 2011.  

Non-compliance with Court judgments 
The Court ruled against Italy for failing to apply effectively 
the EU rules restricting the use of driftnets and failing to 
control the corresponding fishing activities.155 In response to 
the Commission’s inquiry, the Italian authorities provided 
information on the measures they had taken in order to 
comply with the judgment. However, the subsequent 
Commission inspections concluded that those measures were 
not satisfactory; it therefore maintained the infringement 
procedure against Italy by sending a letter of formal notice 
under Article 260(2) TFEU.156  

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/maritimeaffairs_fisheries/index_en.htm  

153  
154  

Commission v Spain, C-189/07.  
Commission v France, C-556/07.  

155  
156  

Commission v Italy, C-249/08.  
IP/11/1088. 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
R E G I O N A L   P O L I C Y  

General remarks 
In the area of regional policy, the number of complaints 
received by the Commission over recent  years has increased 
considerably. Accordingly, the number of EU Pilot files on 
regional policy is also significant. However, with many 
complaints still at the preliminary investigation phase, the 
Commission did not open any infringement procedures in this 
area in 2011.  

Complaints handling 
The Commission registered 92 new complaints in 2011. Even if 
137 were submitted in 2010, the number of complaints has 
increased by around 65% since 2009.  

Complainants typically claimed that their application for 
financial support had been erroneously rejected or that certain 
projects were not in line with EU law (especially environmental 
or public procurement rules) or that the projects selected for co-
financing suffered from other defects (e.g. poor performance of 
installations).  

The Commission processed 53 complaints related to 
regional policy in 2011. Several files were closed without 
further steps due to the Commission’s response to the 
complainant (22) or its lack of competence (14). Eleven 
complaints were transferred to EU Pilot so that Member States 
could react to them. 

The European Parliament submitted eight petitions to the 
Commission in relation to regional policy. Some of them were 
not related to projects co-financed by the EU; for the rest, there 
was no evident breach of EU law. 

Own-initiative cases  
The Commission opened an EU Pilot file against a Member 
State as a preparatory step for a possible infringement procedure 
for non-cooperation (Article 4(3) TEU) in the closure of the 
projects co-financed by the Cohesion Fund for the programming 
period 2000-2006. An assessment of the Member State’s 
response was pending at the end of 2011.  

Early resolution of potential infringements 
The Commission opened 11 new files in EU Pilot during 2011 
and processed 13 dossiers in this period. 12 processed files had 
a positive assessment, i.e. the Commission accepted the 
explanations or the undertakings made by the Member State 
concerned (83 % success rate). 14 regional policy files remained 
open in EU Pilot by the end of last year. 

Prominent judgments  
Five judgments157 were handed down by the Court on regional 
policy issues in 2011. In all of these, Member States had 
appealed against Commission decisions ordering financial 
correction measures due to irregular public procurement 
procedures and/or ineligible expenditures in various projects co-
financed by the European Regional Development Fund.  

Further information available at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.cfm 

157  

Provincie Groningen and Provincie Drenthe v Commission, T-69/09; 
the Netherlands v Commission, T-70/09; Portugal v Commission, 
T-387/07; Caixa Geral de Depósitos, SA v Commission, T-401/07 
and Greece v Commission, T-81/09.  

18

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
O T H E R   P O L I C Y   A R E A S  

Education and Culture 
In the area of EU legislation related to education and culture, 
five infringement procedures were open at the end of 2011.  
The Commission closed two procedures following 

compliance by Member States during 2011.  

In one case, a UK university was charging higher fees for 

its distance learning courses if the student was a resident outside 
the UK. Following the intervention of the Commission, the 
university agreed to limit the additional charges to no more than 
could be justified by objective reasons (such as the extra cost of 
running examination centres in other countries). 

In the other case, Germany eliminated the restriction 
making study grants available only for residents who wished to 
follow distance learning courses at German institutions. They 
extended the grant’s availability to distance learning courses 
offered by foreign institutions so long as the foreign studies 
fulfilled all other support conditions. 

Enlargement 
In this area there is one case worthy of particular mention: An 
earlier Court judgment had ruled that the Netherlands was 
charging disproportionately high fees for issuing residence 
permits for Turkish nationals who had acquired the right of 
residence.158 The Dutch authorities aligned the fees charged for 

provisional residence permits and residence permits issued to 
Turkish citizens with those charged for similar documents 
issued to EU citizens. The Commission is examining whether 
these measures are sufficient to fully comply with the 
judgement.  

Statistics on Europe 
With regard to legal obligations on Member States to provide 
sound statistics to the Commission, the following case is worthy 
of mention: The Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Greece 
because it appeared that Greece had failed to provide the 
Commission with data on its government deficit and debt for 
the purposes of the Excessive Deficit Procedure. To deal with 
the problems raised by the Commission, Greece had to review 
its legislation and administrative structure. It adopted a law on 
the Hellenic Statistical System and established the independent 
Hellenic Statistical Authority, which were significant steps 
forward. However, the Commission also has to monitor the 
effective implementation of the new Greek legislation.  

Further information available at:  
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/agriculture/index_en.htm 

158  

Commission v the Netherlands, C-92/07.  

19