COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Part I: General Statistical Overview Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION Monitoring the application of European Union law 2017 Annual Report
Date: 2018-07-12
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: EU Member State, EU energy policy, EU migration policy, Economic and Monetary Union, activity report, digital single market, fundamental rights, infringement procedure (EU), job creation, national implementing measure

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 12.7.2018 SWD(2018) 377 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Part I: General Statistical Overview Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION Monitoring the application of European Union law 2017 Annual Report {COM(2018) 540 final}  - {SWD(2018) 378 final}  - {SWD(2018) 379 final}  
 
 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

I.  Working with Member States to ensure proper implementation of EU law ................................ 2 

1. 

Implementation plans: state of play ............................................................................................ 2 

2.  Explanatory documents: state of play ........................................................................................ 2 

II. 

Infringement procedures............................................................................................................. 5 

III.  Before an infringement procedure is started .............................................................................. 6 

3.  Detecting problems ..................................................................................................................... 6 

3.1. 

3.2. 

Own-initiative cases ............................................................................................................... 6 

Complaints and petitions ........................................................................................................ 6 

4.  EU Pilot ....................................................................................................................................... 8 

IV.  Stages in infringement procedures ........................................................................................... 10 

1.  Pre-litigation phase ................................................................................................................... 10 

2. 

Judgments of the Court of Justice under Articles 258 and 260(2) TFEU ................................. 13 

V.  Transposition of directives ........................................................................................................ 15 

1. 

Late transposition ..................................................................................................................... 15 

2.  Referrals to the Court of Justice under Article 258 and 260(3) TFEU ..................................... 17 

VI.  Methodology and explanations ................................................................................................. 19 

1.  Detecting problems ................................................................................................................... 19 

2.  EU Pilot ..................................................................................................................................... 19 

3. 

4. 

Infringement procedures........................................................................................................... 19 

Transposition of directives ........................................................................................................ 20 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
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I.  Working with Member States to ensure proper implementation of EU law 

1.  Implementation plans: state of play 
In  the  Better  Regulation  Package1,  the  Commission  committed  to  actively  help  Member  States 
transpose  and  implement  legislation  by  preparing  implementation  plans  for  certain  directives  and 
regulations.  While  the  responsibility  for  applying  EU  law  lies  with  the  Member  States,  the 
implementation  plans  aim  to  help  them  do  so  effectively  and  on  time.  The  plans  identify  challenges 
which  the  Member  States  will  face  and  which  need  to  be  taken  into  account  when  they  prepare  to 
transpose  and  implement  a  law.  The  plans  also  provide  for  a  wide  range  of  tools  to  help  Member 
States implement EU laws, such as guidance documents, expert groups and dedicated websites. 

In  2017  the  Commission  prepared  an  implementation  plan  to  ensure  the  effective  transposition  and 
implementation  of  the  proposal  it  issued  for  Directive  empowering  the  competition  authorities  of  the 
Member  States  to  be  more  effective  enforcers  and  to  ensure  the  proper  functioning  of  the  internal 
market2. The plan lists a number of actions to be carried out by the Commission and by the Member 
States during the adoption and implementation of the proposed Directive. They are as follows. 

  To ensure full implementation within the time-frame, the Commission will provide advice to the 
Member States, both through a single contact point and through bilateral meetings. It will also 
facilitate  the  exchange  of  best  practices/technical  solutions  with  the  Member  States  for  any 
implementation  challenges  that  may  arise.  If  there  are  any  significant  transposition  issues,  it 
may  issue  interpretative  guidance.  From  their  side,  the  Member  States  should  inform  the 
Commission  about  specific 
the 
Commission on draft transposition measures. 

technical  challenges  or  questions  and  may  consult 

  The Commission will provide training and support for the national competition authorities upon 
request on issues concerning the practical implementation of new provisions in their  national 
legal framework. 

  The  Commission  and  the  national  competition  authorities  will  proactively  ensure  adequate 

information to the businesses community about the changes introduced. 

The  existing  means  for  close  cooperation  between  the  Commission  and  the  national  competition 
authorities in the European Competition Network can be used to facilitate these actions. 

The Commission will monitor the use Member States make of the implementation plan. 

2.  Explanatory documents: state of play 

The  EU  institutions  and  the  Member  States  agreed  in  2011  that  Member  States,  when  notifying 
national transposition measures to the Commission, may also have to provide documents explaining 
how  they  have  transposed  directives  into  their  law3.  The  Commission  can  ask  Member  States  to 
submit these ‘explanatory documents’ in justified cases4. 

Explanatory  documents  play  an  essential  role  in  promoting  good  understanding  of  national 
transposition measures. They help to make compliance monitoring easier: without the documents, the 
Commission  would  need  considerable  resources  and  numerous  contacts  with  national  authorities  to 
track  the  methods  of  transposition  in  all  Member  States.  As  transposing  measures  must  be  merged 
with  a  complex  existing  legal  framework,  the  resulting  transposition  exercise  produces  hundreds  of 
measures to be examined. 

1  
IP/15/4988. 
2   COM(2017)142. 
3   The  policy  is  contained  in  (1)  a  Joint  Political  Declaration  of  28 September  2011  between  the  Commission 
and the Member States (OJ 2011/C 369/02) and (2) a Joint Political Declaration of 27 October 2011 between 
the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission (OJ 2011/C 369/03). 

4   The  standard  recital  in  such  directives  reads  as  follows:  Member  States  ‘undertake  to  accompany  the 
notification of transposition measures with one or more explanatory documents, which can  take the form of 
correlation tables or other documents serving the same purpose’. The Commission will have ‘to justify on a 
case  by  case  basis,  when  submitting  the  relevant  proposals,  the  need  for,  and  the  proportionality  of, 
providing such documents’. 

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In 2017 the Commission requested explanatory documents in nine out of 31 proposals for directives 
submitted to the European Parliament and the Council. The 34 directives that the Parliament and the 
Council adopted during the year included seven for which the Commission had requested explanatory 
documents.  In  all  seven,  the  agreed  recital  on  the  need  for  such  documents  was  maintained  in  the 
final text. 

During  the  year  Member  States  had  to  transpose  36  directives.  They  had  undertaken  to  submit 
explanatory  documents  for  11  of  these5.  The  process  of  assessing  the  national  measures  for  these 
directives is under way. 

Three  of  the  11  directives  for  which  the  Member  States  had  undertaken  to  provide  explanatory 
documents  in  2017  concern  the  environment.  Member  States  notified  to  the  Commission  the 
following numbers of explanatory documents: 

  30 for the Directive on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on 

the environment6; 

  6  (including  one  correlation  table)  for  the  Directive  on  the  limitation  of  emissions  of  certain 

pollutants into the air from medium combustion plants7; 

  11 for the Directive on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants8. 

Two  of  the  11  directives  for  which  the  Member  States  had  undertaken  to  provide  explanatory 
documents  concern  energy.  Member  States  notified  to  the  Commission  the  following  numbers  of 
explanatory documents: 

•  22  (including  three  correlation  tables)  for  the  Council  Directive  establishing  a  Community 

framework for the nuclear safety of nuclear installations9; 

•  11 (including two correlation tables) for the Directive on quality of petrol and diesel fuels10. 

Two  of  the  11  directives concern  financial  markets.  Member  States notified to  the Commission  the 
following numbers of explanatory documents: 

  43 (including five correlation tables) for the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive11; 

  12 (including 1 correlation table) for the Directive on safeguarding of financial instruments and 
funds  belonging  to  clients,  product  governance  obligations  and  the  rules  applicable  to  the 
provision or reception of fees, commissions or any monetary or non-monetary benefits12.  

Two of the 11 directives are in the field of justice and consumers. The Commission received 

  15  explanatory  documents  (including  three  correlation  tables)  for  the  Directive  on  the 

European Investigation Order in criminal matters13; 

  18 explanatory documents (including five correlation tables) for the Directive on the prevention 
of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing14. 

5   The report takes into account the explanatory documents submitted for these directives between 1 January 

and 31 December 2017. 

6   Directive 2014/52/EU. 
7   Directive 2015/2193/EU. 
8   Directive 2016/2284/EU. 
9   Directive 2014/87/Euratom. 
10   Directive 2015/1513/EU. 
11   Directive 2014/65/EU. 
12   Directive 2017/593/EU. 
13   Directive 2014/41/EU. 
14   Directive 2015/849/EU. 

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One  of  the  11  directives  is  on  transport.  The  Commission  received  12  explanatory  documents 
(including five correlation tables) for the Directive on driving licences15. 

One  of  the  11  directives  concerns  the  internal  market.  The  Commission  received  12  explanatory 
documents for the Directive on the list of defence-related products16. 

Overall, in 2017 Member States did not deliver in all cases on their commitment to provide explanatory 
documents  together  with  the  national  measures  transposing  the  directives  into  their  legal  order.  An 
initial  assessment  of  the  explanatory  documents  that  were  submitted  indicates  that  their  quality  is 
uneven. 

The Commission will continue to report to the Parliament and the Council on explanatory documents in 
its annual reports on the application of EU law. 

15   Directive 2015/653/EU. 
16   Directive 2017/433/EU. 

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II. 

Infringement procedures 

There are three main types of infringements of EU law: 

a)  failure to notify: a Member State does not notify the Commission on time of its 

measures to transpose a directive; 

b)  non-conformity/non-compliance:  the  Commission  considers  that  a  Member 

c) 

State’s legislation is not in line with the requirements of EU legislation; 
incorrect/bad  application:  EU  law  is  not  applied correctly,  or  not  applied  at all, 
by national authorities. 

Infringements may be detected by the Commission’s own investigations or brought to its attention 
by complaints or petitions from members of the public, businesses, NGOs or other organisations. 
The Commission actively informs complainants of the decisions taken throughout all stages of the 
procedure. 

The infringement procedure under Article 258 TFEU is divided into a pre-litigation phase and a 
litigation phase. 

In the pre-litigation phase, the Commission first sends a letter of formal notice to the Member 
State  requesting  an  explanation  within  a  given  time  limit.  If  the  Member  State’s  reply  is 
unsatisfactory or it does not reply at all, the Commission sends  a  reasoned opinion asking the 
Member State to comply within a given time limit. 

Should the Member  State not comply with the reasoned opinion, the Commission  may open the 
litigation procedure by bringing the case to the Court of Justice under Article 258 TFEU. 

When it brings a case before the Court against a Member State for failing to fulfil its obligations to 
notify  measures  transposing  a  directive  adopted  under  a  legislative  procedure,  the  Commission 
may propose financial penalties under Article 260(3) TFEU. 

The  Court  may  agree  with  the  Commission  and  rule  that  the  Member  State  has  breached  its 
obligations under EU law. If the Court does so but the Member State still does not take the steps 
needed to comply, the Commission may continue the infringement procedure under Article 260(2) 
TFEU.  This  involves  referring  the  Member  State  to  the  Court  again  after  sending  it  a  letter  of 
formal  notice  under  Article 260  (2)  TFEU.  In  such  cases  the  Commission  can  propose,  and  the 
Court  can  impose,  financial  sanctions  in  the  form  of  a  lump  sum  and/or  penalties  per  day  or 
another specified period. 

At  the  request  of  national  courts,  the  Court  of  Justice  may  also  issue  preliminary  rulings  under 
Article 267  TFEU  addressing  issues  of  conformity  of  national  laws  with  EU  legislation.  While 
preliminary  rulings  are  distinct  from  infringement  judgments,  they  give  the  Commission  an 
additional  opportunity  to  ensure  that  violations  of  EU  law  deriving  from  national  legislation  or  its 
application  are  remedied.  The  Commission  systematically  follows  up  on  preliminary  rulings  in 
which the Court identifies cases of non-conformity in national legislations.  

The  Commission  regularly  publishes  information  about  its  decisions  on  infringement  procedures 
on the Europa portal. 

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III.  Before an infringement procedure is started 

3.  Detecting problems 

3.1. Own-initiative cases 

The Commission examines the implementation of EU law mainly on its own initiative. In 2017 
it  launched  139  such  investigations  using  the  EU  Pilot  mechanism  (EU  Pilot  is  explained  in 
point 2 below), against 520 in 201617. In addition to these cases, the Commission opened 684 
infringement procedures by directly sending a letter of formal notice. 

3.2. Complaints and petitions 

The number of new complaints in 2017 reached its highest level since 2011. 

Number of complaints (2013-2017) 

3 715 

3 783 

3 786 

3 505 

3 450 

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

The chart below shows further key data on complaints from members of the public18: 

Public complaints open at year-end 

3 423  >  Complaints open at end-2016 

3 786  >  New complaints registered in 2017 

3 611  >  Complaints handled in 2017 

= 3 598   >  Complaints open at end-2017 

The  Commission  registered  3  786  new  complaints  in  2017.  The  three  Member  States 
against which it filed the most complaints were Italy, Spain and France. 

• 

• 

• 

Italy: 533 complaints, most of them related to: environment (160 complaints); internal 
market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs (104 complaints); and employment (60 
complaints); 

Spain:  437  complaints,  especially  in  connection  with:  justice  and  consumers  (109 
complaints); environment (89 complaints); and employment (63 complaints); and 

France:  383  complaints,  mainly  related  to:  justice  and  consumers  (74  complaints); 
employment (73 complaints); and environment (68 complaints). 

17   Pursuant  to  the  Communication  ‘EU  law:  Better  results  through  better  application’  (C(2016)8600),  the 
Commission  will  launch  infringement  procedures  without  relying  on  EU  Pilot,  unless  recourse  to  this 
mechanism is seen as useful in a given case. 

18   The  number  of  complaints  open  at  end-2017  (d)  is  calculated  by  adding  together  the  number  of  complaint 
files  open  at  end-2016  (a)  and  of  new  complaints  opened  in  2017  (b),  then  subtracting  the  number  of 
complaints handled during 2017 (c) (a+b-c=d). 

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2017 Annual Report 

The following chart shows the main policy areas in which new complaints were registered in 
2017. Together they account for 97 % of all complaints received in 2017. 

New complaints registered in 2017: main policy areas 

Internal market, 
industry, 
entrepreneurship 
and SMEs 
476 

Employment 
484 

Taxation and 
customs 
308 

Health and food 
safety 
198 

Mobility and 
transport 
173 

Environment 
518 

Justice and 
consumers 
864 

Financial stability, 
financial services 
and Capital 
Markets Union 
155 

Migration and 
home affairs 
100 

Others 
510 

The Commission handled 3 611 complaints in 2017. Once it has assessed complaints, the 
Commission may launch an investigation using the EU Pilot mechanism to clarify whether EU 
rules  have  been  breached.  Not  all  complaints  in  2017  led  to  such  investigations,  for  the 
following reasons: no EU laws were breached (2 312), the Commission had no power to act 
(7)  or  the  correspondence  did  not  qualify  as  a  complaint  (940)19.  The  Commission  did  not 
pursue  206  cases  as  the  complainants  withdrew  their  complaint.  3  465  complaints  have 
therefore been closed. 

Complaints leading to investigations (39) using the EU Pilot mechanism were most frequently 
related  to  taxation  and  customs  (17  files  opened  under  EU  Pilot),  internal  market,  industry, 
entrepreneurship  and  SMEs  (8  files  opened  under  EU  Pilot)  and  agriculture  and  rural 
development (5 files opened under EU Pilot). 

 These 39 complaints also mainly concerned Spain, France and Italy. 

• 

• 

Spain: 7 new EU Pilot files, in connection with complaints about taxation and customs 
(3);  internal  market,  industry,  entrepreneurship  and  SMEs  (2);  agriculture  and  rural 
development (1); competition (1). 

France:  4  new  EU  Pilot  files,  in  connection  with  complaints  about  taxation  and 
customs  (1);  environment  (1);  climate  action  (1);  agriculture  and  rural  development 
(1). 

19   According  to  conditions  set  out  in  point  3  of  the  Annex  on  administrative  procedures  for  the  handling  of 
relations  with  the  complainant  regarding  the  application  of  European  Union  law  to  the  Communication  EU 
law: Better results through better application (C(2016)8600). 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

• 

Italy: 4 new EU Pilot files, in connection with complaints about taxation and customs 
(3) and agriculture and rural development (1). 

Through  petitions  and  questions,  the  European  Parliament  alerted  the  Commission  to 
shortcomings  in  the  way  some  Member  States  were  implementing  and  applying  certain  EU 
laws in 2017. These include the following: 

  Environment: The Commission launched a bilateral dialogue with a Member State on 
the exclusion of grass clippings from the definition of waste in the national legislation 
the 
transposing 
management  of  waste  from  extractive  industries,  the  Commission  began  a  bilateral 
dialogue with the Member State concerned. 

the  Waste  Framework  Directive20. 

In  another  cases  about 

  Migration  and  home  affairs:  The  Commission  launched  a  bilateral  dialogue  with  a 
Member State on equal treatment of third-country nationals regarding access to water 
and electricity services. 

  Taxation: In the area of indirect taxation, petitions and most parliamentary questions 
concerned  issues  already  covered  by  Commission’s  ongoing  investigations  in  areas 
such as national practice concerning the exemption rules under the VAT Directive, the 
application of value added tax to fuels, and taxation on sustainable tourism. 

 

Internal  market:  The  Commission  launched  bilateral  discussions  with  a  Member 
State on the conditions for access to and exercise of the profession of lawyer. 

4.  EU Pilot 

The EU Pilot dialogue between the Commission and Member States was set up to quickly resolve 
potential  breaches  of  EU  law  at  an  early  stage  in  appropriate  cases.  It  should  be  avoided  that 
recourse to EU Pilot adds a lengthy step to the infringement process, which in itself is a means to 
enter  into  a  problem-solving  dialogue  with  a  Member  State.  In  line  with  the  Communication  EU 
law: Better results through better application, the Commission will henceforth launch infringement 
procedures  without  relying  on  the  EU  Pilot  mechanism  unless  recourse  to  EU  Pilot  is  seen  as 
useful in a given case. 

As a result of the new approach, in 2017 the number of new EU Pilot files reached the lowest level 
since 2011 (see the chart below). 

Number of EU Pilot files (2013-2017) 

1 502 

1 208 

881 

790 

2013

2014

2015

2016

178 
2017

20   Directive 2008/98/EC. 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

The following chart shows the main EU Pilot figures for 201721: 

EU Pilot files open at year-end 

1 175  >  EU Pilot files open at end-2016 

178  >  New EU Pilot files registered in 2017 

512  >  EU Pilot files handled in 2017 

= 841  >  EU Pilot files open at end-2017 

178 new EU Pilot files were opened in 2017. Of these, 39 were triggered by complaints and 
139 were opened by the Commission on its own initiative. 

The following pie chart shows the policy areas in which most new EU Pilot files were opened 
in 2017: 

EU Pilot files opened in 2017: main policy areas 

Energy 
33 

Environment 
63 

Climate action 
24 

Taxation and 
customs 
18 

Internal market, 
industry, 
entrepreneurship 
and SMEs 
9 

The Commission handled 512 EU Pilot files in 2017. It closed 393 of these after receiving 
satisfactory answers from the Member States concerned. This gives a resolution rate of 77 %, 
which is above the 2016 and 2015 levels. 

Altogether, 119 EU Pilot files were closed because the Commission rejected the responses 
provided by Member States. Of these, 60 were followed up by launching formal infringement 
procedures.  While  8  of  these  procedures  were  based  on  complaints,  the  Commission 
launched the remaining 52 at its own initiative. 

Most EU Pilot files which led to formal infringement procedures concerned the following policy 
areas:  environment  (27  cases),  energy  (7),  and  communications,  networks,  content  and 
technology  (6).  Slovenia  had  the  highest  number  of  files  in  EU  Pilot  which  were  pursued 
through infringement procedures (6), followed by Spain, Portugal and Greece (5 files each). 

21   The number of EU Pilot files open at end-2017 (d) is calculated by adding together the numbers of files open 
at end-2016 (a) and of new files opened in 2017 (b), then subtracting the number of files handled during 2017 
(c) (a+b-c=d). 

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2017 Annual Report 

EU Pilot files: EU average resolution rate (2013-2017) 

77% 

75% 

75% 

72% 

70% 

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

At  the  end  of  2017,  841  EU  Pilot  files  were  open.  The  main  Member  States  concerned  were 
Italy  (70),  Spain  (55)  and  France  (50).  The  environment  remained  the  main  policy  area  affected 
(240 open files), followed by justice and consumers (127), taxation and customs (94), and internal 
market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs (90). 

IV.  Stages in infringement procedures 

1.  Pre-litigation phase 

In 2017, the Commission launched 716 new procedures by sending a letter of formal notice. 
The following chart gives the breakdown by Member State. 

New infringement cases at  
31 December 2017 

46 

41 

26  26  27  28  29  29  29  29 

32  32 

33 

30 30 

21  21  22  23  24  24 

19  19  20 

17 

12  13  14 

IT NL LT EE DK SE MT FR SK LV DE HU LU FI PL ES AT BG IE RO SI BE EL CZ UK HR CY PT

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

The following chart shows the main policy areas in which new procedures were opened. 

New infringement cases opened in 2017: main policy areas 

Financial stability, 
financial services 
and Capital Markets 
Union 
84 

Health and food 
safety 
62 

Justice and 
consumers 
48 

Internal market, 
industry, 
entrepreneurship 
and SMEs 
29 

Other 
165 

Mobility and 
Transport 
155 

Environment 
173 

The Commission also sent 275 reasoned opinions to Member States in 2017. The main policy 
areas  concerned  were  environment  (45),  mobility  and  transport  (45),  financial  services  (43), 
and internal market (36). 

The following chart gives the breakdown by Member State. 

Reasoned opinions sent to Member States in 2017 

21 

19 

17  17 

16 

15  15 

13  13 

12  12 

11 

7  7  7  7  7  7 

9  9 

6  6  6 

5 

4 

3 

2  2 

LT SK DK SE EE FR LU SI BG DE LV MT NL UK AT FI EL HU IE CZ HR ES IT PL BE RO PT CY

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

At  the  end  of  2017,  1 559  infringement  cases  remained  open.  This  is  a  decrease  from  the 
previous year, as the following chart shows. 

Infringement cases open at year-end (2013-2017) 

1 657 

1 559 

1 300 

1 347 

1 368 

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

The following chart shows the number of open infringement cases by Member State at the end of 
2017: 

Infringement cases open on 31 December 2017 

93 

85 

81 

78 

73 74 

70 

65 

61 62 62 

56 56 58 

48 48 48 49 51 53 

44 

40 41 

33 33 34 35 

28 

14 27 23 23 28 19 30 35 15 26 19 21 33 34 34 28 34 42 32  9  26 39 40 25 33 46 41 32 

DK EE MT LT LV NL FI LU HU SE SK UK SI BG HR IE RO CY AT IT FR PL CZ DE EL BE PT ES

Top figures: Total number of infringements

Infringements for incorrect transposition and/or bad application of EU laws

Late transposition infringements

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

The following chart shows the breakdown of the infringement cases open at the end of 2017, by policy 
area: 

Infringement cases open at end-2017: policy areas 

Internal market, 
industry, 
entrepreneurship 
and SMEs 
158 

Financial stability, 
financial services 
and Capital 
Markets Union 
226 

Migration and 
home affairs 
129 

Justice and 
consumers 
125 

Taxation and 
customs 
90 

Energy 
54 

Health and food 
safety 
47 

Employment 
46 

Communication 
networks 
42 

Other 
87 

Mobility and 
transport 
248 

Environment 
307 

Even after it has launched an infringement procedure, the Commission continues its dialogue 
with  the  Member  State  in  order  to  seek  compliance.  Statistics  confirm  that  Member  States 
make serious efforts to settle their infringements before the Court hands down its ruling. 

In 2017 the Commission closed the following.  

•  56322 infringements after sending letters of formal notice. 
•  209 cases after sending reasoned opinions. 
•  17 cases after deciding to refer the case to the Court but before submitting the application, 
and 18 cases following a Court Judgment. In addition, the Commission withdrew 8 cases 
from the Court before the latter handed down its ruling. These cases were withdrawn as 
the Member States concerned took the necessary measures to comply with EU law. 

In  2017  the  Commission  referred  and  submitted  28  cases  to  the  Court  under  Article 258 
TFEU.  

In 2017, the Commission referred 3 cases to the Court under Article 260(2) TFEU. 

2.  Judgments of the Court of Justice under Articles 258 and 260(2) TFEU 

In  2017  the  Court  gave  17  judgments  under  Article 258  TFEU  and  1  judgment  under 
Article 260§2 TFEU. All were in the Commission’s favour. 

22  

Includes three letters of formal notice under Article 260 TFEU. 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

Germany  (4),  Greece  (4),  Portugal  (2)  and  Spain  (2)  were  the  subject  of  the  most  Court 
judgments under Article 258 TFEU in 2017. 

18 Court Judgments of Justice under Articles 258 and 260(2) 
TFEU in 2017 

4 

4 

2 

2 

4 

4 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Total number of judgements

Top figures: Judgements in favour of the Commission

Member  States  frequently  take  the  measures  needed  to  comply  with  a  Court  judgment 
promptly. However, at the end of the year 93 infringement procedures were still open after a 
Court ruling because the Commission considered that the Member States concerned had not 
yet  complied  with  judgments  under  Article 258  TFEU.  The  main  Member  States  concerned 
were Greece (16), Portugal (10), Spain (9) and Germany (7). The cases mainly related to the 
environment  (48),  transport  and  mobility  (18),  taxation  and  customs  (8),  and  the  internal 
market (6). 

Of these 93 cases, 13 had already been referred to the Court for the second time. When the 
Court  imposes  financial  penalties  under  Article 260(2)  TFEU,  the  defaulting  Member  State 
must pay the lump sum immediately and continue to pay the periodic penalty until it complies 
fully with the first and second Court judgments. In 2017, the Court delivered 1 judgment under 
Article 260(2)  TFEU.  It  imposed  penalty  payments  on  Spain23.  At  the  end  of  2017,  9 
infringement procedures were still open after a Court ruling under Article 260(2) TFEU. 

23   Commission v Spain, C-388/16 (lump sum payment of EUR 3 million). 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

V. 

Transposition of directives 

1.  Late transposition 
Combating  late  transposition  is  a  long-established  priority  for  the  Commission.  The  Commission 
therefore proposes financial sanctions whenever it refers a Member State to the Court of Justice under 
Articles  258  and  260(3)  TFEU  for  not  having  communicated  on  time  its  measures  to  transpose  a 
directive adopted under a legislative procedure (see details in subsection V.2). 

Directives and late transposition infringement cases 

478 

585 

543 

558 

847 

74 

67 

56 

70 

36 

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Number of directives with transposition deadline in a given year

New late transposition infringements

There  were  36  directives  to  transpose  in  2017,  down  from  70  in  2016.  New  late  transposition 
infringements decreased sharply, to 558 from 847. 

At the end of 2017, 808 late transposition infringement cases were still open, a 7 % increase 
from the 874 cases open at the end of 2016. 

Late transposition infringement cases open at year-end 

87424  >  Late transposition cases open at end-2016 

558  >  New late transposition cases registered in 2017 

624  >  Late transposition cases closed in 2017 

= 808  >  Late transposition cases open at end-2017 

24   Corrigendum: The 2016 Annual Report stated that 868 cases were open at end-2016. This clerical error has 
been corrected to reflect the actual number of open late transposition cases: 874 cases open at end-2016. 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

The following chart shows the number of late transposition infringement cases open at the end of 
2017 by Member State, irrespective of the year in which the case was opened. 

Late transposition infringement cases open on 31 December 2017 

46 

42 

41 

40 

39 

32  32 

33  33 

34  34  34 

35 

30 

28  28 

26  26 

27 

25 

23  23 

21 

19  19 

15 

14 

9 

IT DK HU NL SK UK LT MT DE FR SE EE IE LV FI AT ES EL SI BG HR RO LU PL CZ PT CY BE

The next chart shows new late transposition infringement cases (558 in total) opened in 2017, by 
Member State. 

New late transposition infringement cases 

36 

35 

29 

26 26 

25 25 

22 22 22 

23 

21 21 

20 

19 19 19 

16 16 16 16 

15 15 

14 

13 

11 

9 

7 

IT NL LT HU SK DK FR EE ES MT SE DE LV RO SI

IE PL AT EL LU BE CZ FI BGHR UK CY PT

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

The policy areas in which the new cases were launched in 2017 are shown in the following chart: 

New late transposition infringement cases opened in 2017: 
main policy areas 

Financial stability, 
financial services 
and Capital 
Markets Union 
84 

Health and food 
safety 
62 

Justice and 
consumers 
41 

Other  
129 

Environment 
113 

Mobility and 
transport 
129 

New cases were launched against 23 Member States for late transposition of the Directive on 
fuel quality25. In addition, 21 Member States were involved in cases of late transposition of the 
Directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure26. The Commission launched 21 
procedures over late transposition of the Antitrust Damages Directive27. 

2.  Referrals to the Court of Justice under Article 258 and 260(3) TFEU 

Under  Article 260(3)  TFEU,  the  Commission  may  propose  financial  penalties  even  when 
referring a case for the first time to the Court of Justice under Article 258 TFEU for failure to 
fully transpose a legislative Directive. This innovation, introduced in the Treaty of Lisbon, aims 
to  give  Member  States  a greater  incentive  to  transpose  directives  on  time.  The  Commission 
decides  on  the  level  of  financial  penalties  to  propose  in  line  with  the  policy  laid  down  in  its 
Communication on the implementation of Article 260(3) TFEU. 

In 2017 the Commission continued to bring late transposition infringement cases to the Court 
of Justice with a request for daily penalties under Article 260(3) TFEU. It referred 5 Member 
States  to  the  Court  in  2017:  Belgium  (2  cases)28,  Croatia  (2  cases29),  Slovakia30,  Slovenia31 
and Spain32 (1 case each). 

25   Directive 2015/652/EU. 
26   Directive 2014/94/EU. 
27   Directive 2014/104/EU. 
28   Commission  v  Belgium,  C-543/17.  The  Commission  referred  Belgium  to  the  Court  for  failing  to  fully 
implement the Directive on measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications 
networks.  It  proposed  a  daily  penalty  of  EUR 54 639.36.  In  a  second  case  (Commission  v  Belgium,  C-
564/17),  the  Commission  referred  Belgium  to  the  Court  for  failing  to  fully  implement  the  Single  Permit 
Directive. It proposed a daily penalty of EUR 70 828.80. 

29   Commission v Croatia, C-381/17. The Commission referred Croatia to the Court for failing to fully implement 
the Mortgage Credit Directive. It proposed a daily penalty of EUR 9 865.40. In a second case (Commission v 
Croatia, C-415/17), the Commission referred Croatia to the Court for failing to fully implement the Directive on 
statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts. It proposed a daily penalty of EUR 9 275.20. 

30   Commission  v  Slovakia,  C-605/17.  The  Commission  referred  Slovakia  to  the  Court  for  failing  to  fully 
implement the Directive on measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications 
networks. It proposed a daily penalty of EUR 10 036.80. 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

In another 5 cases the Commission took a decision for referral but the Member States adopted 
the  transposition  measures  before  the  application  was  sent  to  Court  and  thus  avoided  the 
Court  procedure.  These  cases  concerned  late  transposition  of  the  Single  European  Railway 
Area  Directive  (Romania)33,  the  Banking  Recovery  and  Resolution  Directive  (Sweden)34,  the 
Deposit  Guarantee  Schemes  Directive  (Poland)35,  the  Enforcement  Directive  on  Posting  of 
Workers (Croatia)36 and the Directive on measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed 
electronic communications networks (Croatia)37.  

In  2017  Member  States  increased  their  efforts  to  complete  transposition  before  the  Court  of 
Justice  delivered  its  judgments.  However,  34  cases  with  a  proposal  for  daily  penalties 
remained open: 5 cases each against Spain and Luxembourg; 3 cases each against Belgium, 
Austria and Slovenia; 2 cases each against Bulgaria and Croatia; 1 case each against Czech 
Republic,  Germany,  Ireland,  Greece,  Cyprus,  France,  Netherlands,  Portugal,  Romania, 
Slovakia and Finland. 

31   Commission  v  Slovenia,  C-594/17.  The  Commission  referred  Slovenia  to  the  Court  for  failing  to  fully 
implement Council Directive on requirements for budgetary frameworks of the Member States. It proposed a 
daily penalty of EUR 7 099.20. 

32   Commission v Spain, C-569/17. The Commission referred Spain to the Court for failing to fully implement the 

Mortgage Credit Directive. It proposed a daily penalty of EUR 105 991.60. 

33   Directive 2012/34/EU. 
34   Directive 2014/59/EU. 
35   Directive 2014/49/EU. 
36   Directive 2014/67/EU. 
37   Directive 2014/61/EU. 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

VI.  Methodology and explanations 

1.  Detecting problems 
First chart: Number of complaints (2013-2017) 

This shows the total number of complaints the Commission registered for the years 2013-2017. 

Second chart: Public complaints open at year-end 

This  starts  with  the  number  of  open  complaints  carried  over  from  2016  (first  column).  The  second 
column shows the number of new complaints registered in 2017. The third column shows the number 
of complaints on which the Commission took a decision in 2017. The fourth column shows the number 
of  complaints  open  at  the  end  of  2017  (calculated  by  taking  the  first  figure,  adding  the  second  and 
subtracting the third). 

Third chart: New complaints registered in 2017: main policy areas38 

This shows the main policy areas in which the new complaints were registered in 2017. 

2.  EU Pilot 
First chart: Number of EU Pilot files (2013-2017) 

This shows the total number of EU Pilot files the Commission opened in the years 2013-2017. 

Second chart: EU Pilot files open at year-end 

This starts with the number of open EU Pilot files carried over from 2016 (first column). The second 
column shows the number of new EU Pilot files opened in 2017. The third column shows the number 
of files on which the Commission took a decision in 2017. The fourth column shows the number of EU 
Pilot  files  open  at  the  end  of  2017  (calculated  by  taking  the  first  figure,  adding  the  second  and 
subtracting the third). 

Third chart: EU Pilot files opened in 2017: main policy areas 

This shows the policy areas in which the new EU Pilot files were opened in 2017. 

Fourth chart: EU Pilot files: EU average resolution rate (2013-2017) 

The resolution rate is the percentage of EU Pilot files handled for which the Commission accepted the 
Member States’ responses. The chart shows the resolution rate for the last 5 years. 

3.  Infringement procedures 
First chart: New infringement cases at 31 December 2017 

This shows the number of new infringement cases opened in 2017, by Member State. 

Second chart: New infringement cases opened in 2017: main policy areas 

38   The data on policy areas referred to in the main report and in the sections on the Member States is based on 
information provided by the European Commission’s directorates-general. The policy areas are referred to as 
follows:  agriculture  and  rural  development;  budget;  climate  action;  communication  networks,  content  and 
technology; competition; education and culture; economic and financial affairs; financial stability and Capital 
Markets  Union;  neighbourhood and  enlargement  negotiations;  employment;  energy;  environment;  migration 
and  home  affairs;  justice  and  consumers;  maritime  affairs  and  fisheries;  internal  market,  industry, 
entrepreneurship  and  SMEs;  mobility  and  transport;  regional  policy;  health  and  food  safety;  taxation  and 
customs; trade. 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

This shows the main policy areas in which the new infringement cases were opened in 2017. 

Third chart: Reasoned opinions sent to Member States in 2017 

This shows the number of reasoned opinions sent to Member States in 2017. 

Fourth chart: Infringement cases open at year-end (2013-2017) 

This shows the number of infringements that remained open on 31 December of each year from 2013 
to 2017. 

Fifth: chart: Infringement cases open on 31 December 2017 

These  figures  show  all  procedures  that  the  Commission  has  started  against  each  Member  State  by 
sending  a  letter  of  formal  notice  under  Article 258  TFEU.  It  covers  letters  sent  in  2017  or  before, 
irrespective of the stages the cases have reached. Only cases which have not yet been closed by a 
formal decision are shown. For each Member State, the chart distinguishes between infringements for 
incorrect  transposition  and/or  bad  application  of  EU  law,  on  the  one  hand,  and  late  transposition 
infringements, on the other. 

Accordingly, the numbers include all cases that, on 31 December 2017: 

were in the pre-litigation phase (letter of formal notice, reasoned opinion or decision on referral 

to the Court under Article 258 TFEU); 

were pending before the Court under Article 258 TFEU or Article 260(3) TFEU; 

the Court had ruled on but where the Commission could not yet confirm that the Member State 

had implemented the judgment correctly; 

were  in  the  second  pre-litigation  procedure  (letter  of  formal  notice  or  referral  decision  under 

Article 260(2) TFEU); 

were pending before the Court due to a second referral; or 

the Court had ruled on for the second time but where the Commission could not yet confirm 

that the Member State had implemented the second judgment correctly. 

This figure does not include, for example, open EU Pilot files. It also does not include EU Pilot files for 
which the Commission rejected the Member State’s response but had  not yet sent a letter  of formal 
notice under Article 258 TFEU. 

Sixth chart: Infringement cases open at end-2017: policy areas 

This shows the breakdown, by policy area, of the infringement cases open on 31 December 2017. 

4.  Transposition of directives 
First chart: Directives and late transposition infringement cases 

This  shows  how  many  directives  had  to  be  transposed  in  the  years  2013-2017  and  how  many  new 
infringement cases for late transposition were opened in that period. 

Second chart: Late transposition infringement cases open at year-end 

This  starts  with  the  number  of  late  transposition  infringements carried  over  from  2016 (first  column). 
The second column shows the number of new late transposition infringements registered in 2017. The 
third column shows the number of complaints on which the Commission took a decision in 2017. The 
fourth  column  shows  the  number  of  late  transposition  infringements  open  at  the  end  of  2017 
(calculated by taking the first figure, adding the second and subtracting the third). 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2017 Annual Report 

Third chart: Late transposition infringement cases open on 31 December 2017 

This  shows  the  number  of  late  transposition  infringements  open  on  31 December  2017  by  Member 
State, irrespective of the year in which the infringement was opened. 

Fourth chart: New late transposition infringement cases 

This  figure  shows  the  number  of  letters  of  formal  notice  addressed  to  each  Member  State  under 
Article 258  TFEU  for  missing  or  partial notifications  of  national  transposition measures  in 2017.  This 
figure is already included in the total number of new infringement cases initiated against the Member 
State in 2017, so it should not be added to the figure shown in the first chart of the general statistics 
section. 

Please  note  that  not  all  of  these  new  infringement  cases  for  late  transposition  were  necessarily  still 
open on 31 December 2017. For example, if the Commission opened a late transposition infringement 
procedure  in  March  2017  by  sending  a  letter  of  formal  notice,  this  would  be  added  to  the  new 
infringement cases even if the Commission closed the case in October 2017 as a result of the Member 
State notifying complete transposition. 

Fifth chart: New late transposition infringement cases opened in 2017: main policy areas 

This  shows  the  main  policy  areas  in  which  the  procedures  for  late  transposition  were  launched  in 
2017. 

21