COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Part I: General Statistical Overview Accompanying the document Report from the Commission Monitoring the application of European Union law 2018 Annual Report
Date: 2019-07-04
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: EU Member State, EU energy policy, EU migration policy, Economic and Monetary Union, activity report, area of freedom, security and justice, digital single market, fundamental rights, infringement procedure (EU), national implementing measure

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 4.7.2019 SWD(2019) 285 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Part I: General Statistical Overview Accompanying the document Report from the Commission Monitoring the application of European Union law 2018 Annual Report {COM(2019) 319 final} - {SWD(2019) 286 final} - {SWD(2019) 287 final}  
 
 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

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

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

2.  Guidelines .................................................................................................................. 5 

3. 

Implementation plans: state of play ............................................................................ 5 

4.  Meeting-based compliance tools ................................................................................ 6 

4.1. Committees, networks, expert groups and workshops ................................................ 6 

4.2. Package meetings ...................................................................................................... 8 

4.3. Other compliance tools ............................................................................................... 8 

II. 

Infringement procedures ...........................................................................................10 

III.  Before an infringement procedure is started .............................................................12 

1.  Detecting problems ...................................................................................................12 

1.1.  Complaints ............................................................................................................12 

1.2.  Petitions ................................................................................................................14 

2.  EU Pilot .....................................................................................................................15 

IV.  Stages in infringement procedures ............................................................................18 

1.  Pre-litigation phase ...................................................................................................18 

2. 

Judgments of the Court of Justice under Articles 258 and 260(2) TFEU ...................21 

V.  Transposition of directives ........................................................................................23 

1.  EU directives to be transposed in 2014-2018 ............................................................23 

2.  Transposition deadlines ............................................................................................24 

3.  Transparency ............................................................................................................24 

4.  Late transposition infringements ...............................................................................25 

5.  Referrals to the Court of Justice under Article 258 and 260(3) TFEU ........................27 

VI.  Methodology and explanations .................................................................................28 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

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

The  Member  States  and  the  European  Commission  share  responsibility  for  ensuring  that  EU  law  is 
complied with. In line with  the principle of sincere cooperation set out in Article 4(3) of the Treaty on 
European Union, they should ‘in full mutual respect, assist each other in carrying out tasks which flow 
from the Treaties’. 

The ultimate purpose of the Commission’s enforcement actions is to ensure compliance with EU law, 
and in this sense infringement procedures are an option of last resort to achieve that purpose. In many 
cases,  good  cooperation  and  communication  between  the  Commission  and  the  Member  States  is 
more  conducive  to  reaching  compliance  at  an  early  stage  than  having  to  resort  to  infringement 
procedures. In its Communication ‘EU law: Better results through better application’1, the Commission 
committed to strengthening its partnership with Member States. 

In line  with  this approach,  the Commission has developed  a number of tools to  help Member States 
transpose,  apply  and  implement  EU  law  correctly  and  on  time.  These  include  guidance  documents, 
implementation  plans,  expert  groups,  explanatory  documents,  providing 
training,  organising 
workshops and holding package meetings. Some of these tools are used to avoid (‘prevent’) breaches 
of  EU  law,  while  others  are  intended  to  be  used  in  parallel  with  infringement  procedures  to  resolve 
(‘correct’)  breaches  of  EU  law  and  to  avoid  having  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the 
European Union. The Commission often uses a combination of these tools to address problems and 
promote compliance with EU law. 

In 2018, in its landscape review of the Commission’s oversight of the application of EU law, the Court 
of Auditors acknowledged  the added value of compliance-promoting tools  in ensuring the timely  and 
correct implementation and application of EU legislation. It also suggested that the Commission could 
ensure more transparency in the use of these compliance-promoting tools. This could be achieved by 
providing more information in the Commission’s annual report on monitoring the application of EU law. 

The Commission is committed to better explaining its role as guardian of the treaties and its work with 
Member  States  on  issues  concerning  the  application  and  implementation  of  EU  law.  Information 
provided  in  this  section  of  the  report  goes  beyond  the  dialogue  engaged  with  the  Member  States 
during the formal infringement procedures. It gives a brief overview of other types of actions taken by 
the Commission in 2018 to assist Member States in implementing and applying EU law.   

1.  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  law2.  The  Commission  can  ask  Member  States  to 
submit these ‘explanatory documents’ in justified cases3. 

Explanatory documents play an essential role in allowing the Commission to understand how Member 
States  transpose  EU  directives.  They  help  to  make  compliance  monitoring  easier:  without  these 
documents, the Commission would need considerable resources and numerous contacts with national 
authorities  to  track  the  methods  of  transposition  in  all  Member  States.  Often,  transposing  measures 
must fit into a complex legal framework. The resulting transposition exercise thus produces hundreds 
of measures that the Commission needs to examine. 

3 

1  C(2016)8600; adopted on 13 December 2016 and published in the OJ on 19 January 2017. 
2 

This was established by (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). 
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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2018 Annual Report 

In  2018,  the  Commission  requested  explanatory  documents  in  14  out  of  37  proposals  for  directives 
submitted to the European Parliament and the Council. The 42 directives that the Parliament and the 
Council  adopted  during  this  year  included  11  for  which  the  Commission  had  requested  explanatory 
documents. For all 11 directives, the agreed recital on the need for such documents was maintained in 
the final text. 

During  the  year    Member  States  had  to  transpose  50  directives.  They  had  undertaken  to  submit 
explanatory  documents  for  14  of  these4.  In  total,  Member  States  notified  2 017  explanatory 
documents. The process of assessing the national transposition measures for these directives is under 
way. 

Two  of  the  14  directives  for  which  the  Member  States  had  undertaken  to  provide  explanatory 
documents  in  2018  concern  financial  markets.  Member  States  notified  to  the  Commission  the 
following numbers of explanatory documents: 

  18 Member States notified 27 explanatory documents for the Directive on payment services in 

the internal market5 ; 

  18  Member  States  submitted  19  explanatory  documents  for  the  Directive  on  insurance 

distribution6, notified by; 

Two other of the 14 directives are in the field of justice and consumers. The Commission received: 

•  14 explanatory documents for the Data Protection Law Enforcement Directive7, provided by 11 

Member States; 

•  12  explanatory  documents  for  the  Directive  on  consular  protection  for  unrepresented 

European citizens living or travelling outside the EU8, submitted by 12 Member States. 

In addition, two of the 14 directives concern transport. Member States notified to the Commission the 
following numbers of explanatory documents: 

  22 explanatory documents for the Directive on driving licences9, notified by 15 Member States; 

  3  explanatory  documents  for  the  Directive  on  the  opening  of  the  market  for  domestic 

passenger transport services by rail10, provided by three Member States. 

Two of the 14 directives are in the field of home affairs. The Commission received: 

  17  explanatory  documents  for  the  Students  and  Researchers  Directive11,  provided  by  13 

Member States; 

  13  explanatory  documents  for  the  Asylum  Procedures  Directive12,  notified  by  10  Member 

States. 

One of the 14 directives concerns environment. The Commission received 15 explanatory documents 
from 14 Member States for the Directive on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric 
pollutants13. 

4 

The report takes into account the explanatory documents submitted for these directives between 1 January 
and 10 December 2018. 
5  Directive 2015/2366/EU. 
6  Directive 2016/97/EU. 
7  Directive 2016/680/EU. 
8  Directive 2015/637/EU. 
9  Directive 2016/1106/EU. 
10  Directive 2016/2370/EU. 
11  Directive 2016/801/EU. 
12  Directive 2013/32/EU. 

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Another  one  of  the  14  directives  is  on  internal  market.  The  Commission  received  13  explanatory 
documents (including one correlation table) from 11 Member States for the Directive as regards the list 
of defence-related products14. 

In the field of energy, the Commission received 37 explanatory documents from 14 Member States for 
the  Directive  laying  down  basic  safety  standards  for  protection  against  the  dangers  arising  from 
exposure to ionising radiation15. 

There  was  also  one  Directive  in  the  field  of  occupational  health  and  safety  for  workers for  which  12 
Member States submitted 14 explanatory documents16. 

In the area of the  digital  economy and society,  nine Member States submitted to the  Commission 
nine  explanatory  documents  for  the  Directive  on  certain  permitted  uses  of  certain  works  and  other 
subject  matter  protected  by  copyright  and  related  rights  for  the  benefit  of  persons  who  are  blind, 
visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled17. 

There  were  also  two  explanatory  documents  notified  by  two  Member  States  in  the  field  of  climate 
action for the Directive enhancing cost-effective emission reductions and low-carbon investments18. 

The  Commission  considers  that  the  current  framework  gives  sufficient  flexibility  on  the  use  of 
explanatory  documents.  Unfortunately,  in  2018  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.  Moreover,  the  Commission’s  initial  assessment  of  the  explanatory 
documents it received indicates that their quality is uneven. 

The Commission will therefore explore with Member States the benefit of providing guidance on how 
explanatory documents should be  drafted and submitted. This could include the need for a common 
template and clear rules on the presentation of the relevant information by the Member States. At the 
same  time,  the  Commission  will  continue  its  current  practice  of  actively  seeking  clarifications  from 
Member  States  on  the  transposition  of  EU  directives,  in  particular  in  the  case  of  complex  and 
voluminous  notifications.  The  Commission  will  also  continue  to  report  to  the  Parliament  and  the 
Council on explanatory documents in its annual reports on monitoring the application of EU law. 

13  Directive 2016/2284/EU. 
14  Directive 2017/2054/EU. 
15  Directive 2013/59/EU. 
16  Directive 2017/164/EU. 
17  Directive 2017/1564/EU. 
18  Directive 2018/410/EU. 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
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2.  Guidelines 

The  Commission  often  provides  written  guidance  to  Member  States  on  how  to  implement  and  apply 
certain EU legal instruments. 

In 2018, the Commission issued guidelines on interpreting and implementing EU law in the following 
policy areas. 

Regarding  the  common  agricultural  policy,  the  adoption  of  the  Omnibus  Regulation19  required  a 
revision of the existing guidelines on rural development and direct payments. The revised guidelines 
covered the performance framework, public procurement, control and penalties in rural development, 
on-the-spot  checks  and  area  measurement,  the  land  parcel  identification  system,  permanent 
grassland, and aid applications and payment claims. The Commission also issued a guide on how to 
apply to register a protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication for agricultural 
product  and  foodstuffs.  Furthermore,  the  Commission  provided  guidance  on  additional  controls  on 
organic products from Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia and on the implementation of the EU school 
fruit, vegetables and milk scheme. 

In  the  field  of  the  digital  economy  and  society  the  Commission  provided  guidance  in  the  form  of 
questions  and  answers  to  help  Member  States  implement  the  Web  Accessibility  Directive20  and  the 
Geo-blocking Regulation21. Anticipating challenges linked to the May 2018 entry into application of the 
General  Data  Protection  Regulation,  in  January  2018  the  Commission  issued  extensive  guidance. 
This  was  disseminated  through  an  ongoing  awareness-raising  campaign  targeting  in  particular 
individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises. 

On product safety, the Commission  adopted  new guidelines in 2018 for the Rapid Alert System for 
dangerous  non-food  products  (RAPEX)22.  The  guidelines  update  the  previous  guidance  issued  in 
2010.  On  20  April  2018,  the  Commission  published  a  Recommendation  on  cross-border  market 
access  for  sub-suppliers  and  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises  in  the  defence  sector,  making 
specific proposals to facilitate cross border market access for small and medium-sized enterprises and 
intermediate companies in the defence sector in two areas: public procurement by national authorities 
and industrial policy at national and European level. 

In  June  2018,  the  Commission  adopted  a  Recommendation  on  standards  for  equality  bodies23.  It 
encourages  Member  States  to  strengthen  equality  bodies’  independence  and  effectiveness.  This 
should help these bodies to perform their key tasks better. These are offering independent assistance 
to  victims  of  discrimination,  promoting  equality,  conducting  independent  surveys  and  issuing 
independent reports and recommendations. 

3.  Implementation plans: state of play 

The  Commission  prepares  implementation  plans  for  certain  legislative  proposals  for  directives  and 
regulations.  An  implementation  plan  identifies  the  challenges  that  the  Member  States  will  face  and 
which  need  to  be  taken  into  account  when  they  prepare  to  transpose  and  implement  the  respective 
directive  or  regulation.  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. 
Implementation plans could also include actions and monitoring arrangements by the Member States 
to track progress and report on their implementation. 

In  2018,  the  Commission  prepared  one  implementation  plan  accompanying  its  proposal  for  a 
Regulation on the alignment of reporting obligations in the field of environment policy24. 

19  Regulation (EU) 2017/2393. 
20   Directive (EU) 2016/2102. 
21   Regulation (EU) 2018/302. 
22  C(2018)7334 final. 
23  C(2018)3850 final. 
24  COM/2018/381 final. 

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The  Court  of  Auditors  landscape  review  on  monitoring  the  application  of  EU  law  highlighted  that 
implementation plans are one of the least frequently used compliance tools, both by the Commission 
and the Member States. 

As the number of implementation plans prepared over recent years has significantly decreased 25, the 
Commission  carried  out  its  own  assessment  of  the  usefulness  and  effectiveness  of  this  compliance 
tool  in  2018.  This  analysis  showed  that  these  plans  are  often  prepared  too  early  in  the  legislative 
process. In addition, the interaction between the  implementation  plans drawn up by the Commission 
and the national implementation plans could be strengthened. This point was also emphasised by the 
Task Force on Subsidiarity, Proportionality and ‘Doing Less More Efficiently’. 

Taking  into  account  these  findings,  the  Commission  will  explore  avenues  for  improving  the 
effectiveness of the implementation plans together with the Member States. 

4.  Meeting-based compliance tools 

The Commission deploys a wide range of meeting-based tools, such as committees, networks, expert 
groups and workshops, to promote the good implementation of EU law across policy areas. 

4.1. Committees, networks, expert groups and workshops 

As from May 2018, the Commission undertook further efforts to ensure the proper application of the 
new  data  protection  rules.  The  Commission  received  feedback  from  stakeholders  on  the 
implementation  of  the  General  Data  Protection  Regulation26,  including  through  a  dedicated  multi-
stakeholder  group  composed  of  representatives  from  industry,  civil  society,  practitioners  and 
academics.  In  parallel,  the  Commission  is  actively  contributing  to  the  work  of  the  European  Data 
Protection Board, composed of the national authorities who are the enforcers of data protection rules. 

In  the  area  of  civil  law,  the  Committee  on  Public  Documents  (composed  of  representatives  of  the 
Member States and the Commission) agreed on the implementation measures required for the smooth 
application  of  the  Regulation  simplifying  the  circulation  of  certain  public  documents  (in  particular  on 
civil status)27. The measures include the development of the multilingual standard forms, the creation 
of a module in the Internal Market Information system to strengthen the fight against fraudulent public 
documents, and the adoption by the Commission and the Member States of a common text to inform 
the public about the Regulation. 

In  2018,  the  Commission  worked  with  Member  States  to  adopt  further  rules  implementing  EU 
legislation  on  the  property  regimes  of  international  couples,  covering  both  marriages  and 
registered  partnerships28.  These  rules,  which  become  applicable  in  2019,  establish  the  forms  that 
members of the public must obtain to have a court decision, authentic instrument or court settlement 
on property matters from one Member State recognised and/or enforced in another.  

In 2018, the Commission made regular use of committees and experts groups to discuss the proper 
implementation and application of EU legislation on employment and social affairs. 

The administrative commission (composed of representatives of the Member States) met four times to 
discuss  issues  related  to  the  interpretation  of  EU  Regulations  on  the  coordination  of  social  security 
systems29. 

The technical committee on free movement of workers (composed of representatives of the Member 
States)  and  the  advisory  committee  on  free  movement  of  workers  (composed  of  representatives  of 
social partners at national and European level, as well as representatives of Member States) met twice 

25  See the Commission’s previous annual reports on monitoring the application of EU law. 
26  Regulation (EU) 2016/679. 
27  Regulation (EU) 2016/1191. 
28  Regulations (EU) 2016/1103 and 2016/1104. 
29  Regulations (EC) 883/2004 and 987/2009. 

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in 2018. The discussions covered, amongst others, issues related to the implementation of directives 
on the freedom of movement for workers30. 

The  European  network  of  employment  services  (EURES)  coordination  group  (composed  of 
representatives of the Member States) met three times in 2018 to discuss, amongst other issues, the 
implementing acts relating to the EURES Regulation31. 

The  Posting  of  Workers  expert  group  (composed  of  representatives  of  the  Member  States  and 
including  observers  from  social  partners  and  EFTA  states)  met  three  times  to  discuss  the 
implementation of the Posting of Workers Enforcement Directive. 

In 2018, the Senior Labour Inspectors’ Committee adopted guidance on topics such as the quality of 
risk assessments and risk management measures with regard to the prevention of muscular-skeletal 
disorders or psychosocial risks. 

On the digital economy and society, the Commission organised meetings to support Member States  
in  the  transposition  of  the    Web  Accessibility  Directive  32.  The  implementation  of  the  Geo-blocking 
Regulation33  was  discussed  in  the  Consumer  Protection  Cooperation  (CPC)  network  meeting  with 
national  CPC  authorities,  in  the  CPC  Committee  and  in  the  Expert  Working  Group  meeting  for  the 
Services  Directive.  An  expert  group  meeting  was  organised  to  prepare  the  implementation  of  the 
Marrakesh  Treaty  Directive34,  which  allows  people  with  print  disabilities  to  access  more  books  and 
other print material in formats that are accessible to them. 

In  enforcing  the  internal  market  rules,  the  Commission  continued  to  strengthen  its  partnership  with 
the  Member  States  by  organising  compliance  dialogues  in  different  settings  (bilateral  meetings  or 
sectoral  meetings  on  specific  issues  concerning  all  Member  States).  These  meetings  allowed  the 
Commission  to  detect  issues  of  inadequate  transposition  or  implementation  and  of  non-compliance 
with EU law. This approach helps the Commission to build solid country and sector knowledge and to 
avoid resorting to infringement procedures. Moreover, together with the experts of the Network of first 
instance  review  bodies  on  public  procurement,  the  Commission  developed  indicators  for  monitoring 
the application of the Remedies Directives35. 

During 2018, the Commission also took comprehensive measures to ensure that the EU legislation on 
consumer  alternative  dispute  resolution  (ADR)  and  online  dispute  resolution  (ODR)  is  properly 
applied.  These  measures  included  improving  the  European  ODR  platform  and  hosting  the  first-ever 
ADR  Assembly.  This  two-day  networking  event  gathered  more  than  350  participants  from  the 
European  ADR  community.  The  Commission  also  organised  several  workshops  with  national 
consumer  authorities  to  prepare  the  entry  into  application  of  the  new  Consumer  Protection 
Cooperation Regulation36. 

On financial services, the Commission organised two workshops on the implementation of activities 
and the supervision of institutions for the Occupational Retirement Provision Directive (IORP II)37. The 
workshops covered issues related to cross-border activities of institutions for occupational retirement 
provision (IORPs), investment and funding rules, the system of governance of IORPs, information to 
members  and  beneficiaries  of  pension  schemes,  professional  secrecy,  and  the  exchange  of 
information between supervisory authorities. 

30  Directives 2014/54/EU and 2014/50/EU. 
31  Regulation (EU) 2016/589. 
32  Directive 2016/2102/EU. 
33  Regulation (EU) 2018/302. 
34  Directive 2017/1564/EU. 
35   Directives 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC as amended by Directive 2007/66/EC. 
36  Regulation (EU) 2017/2394. 
37  Directive 2016/2341/EU. 

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The Commission regularly discussed the implementation of the energy acquis with Member States in 
various committee meetings38. In the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection, the Commission 
held several meetings of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG)39. 

Since the introduction of the common agricultural policy, the Commission has made intensive use of 
committees and expert groups to ensure compliance. Apart from their institutional role in the adoption 
of  implementing  acts,  the  committees  in  the  agricultural  sector40  provide  an  important  forum  for 
discussing,  explaining,  clarifying  and  interpreting  the  applicable  rules.  In  2018,  the  Commission 
services held nearly 170 committee and expert meetings. These included direct payments committees, 
expert  groups  for  direct  payments,  cross-compliance  expert  groups  and  civil  dialogue  groups.  The 
discussions  covered  a  broad  range  of  topics  with  a  particular  focus  on  the  correct  application  and 
implementation  of  EU  law  and  the  exchange  of  best  practices  between  Member  States.  The 
Commission addressed the issue of the relations between trademarks and geographical indications for 
wines  and  spirit  drinks  during  a  joint  conference  with  the  EU  Intellectual  Property  Office  in  October 
2018.  The  annual  seminar  for  Member  States  provided  an  opportunity  for  training  and  sharing  good 
practices and experience as part of the Better Training for Safer Food initiative. 

In the area of maritime affairs and fisheries, expert groups were the preferred fora to discuss with 
Member States issues concerning the implementation and enforcement of the Control Regulation 41 of 
the Regulation on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products42 and 
of the Regulation on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund43. 

4.2. Package meetings 

On  transport,  the  Commission  organised  eight  package  meetings  in  2018.  These  meetings  have 
generally led to swifter handling of a number of files and, in certain cases, to a substantial reduction of 
the number of infringements. 

Regarding energy, the Commission held technical meetings with Member States to discuss the issues 
raised in the infringement procedures for incorrect transposition and implementation of the Radioactive 
Waste Directive44 and for failure to adopt transposition measures for the Nuclear Safety Directive45. 

4.3. Other compliance tools 

In  the  area  of  taxation,  the  Commission  relied  on  the  OECD  Global  Forum  assessment  reports  to 
assess  the  transposition  of  the  package  of  Directives  on  administrative  cooperation  by  Member 
States. 

In  the  area  of  customs,  the  Commission  supported  the  coherent  application  and  effective 
implementation  of  EU  customs  law  through  the  Customs  2020  programme.  This  provides  national 
customs administrations with the possibility to exchange information and expertise. 

39 

38  For example, the Energy Performance of Buildings Committee (C09300) discussed the implementation of the 
Energy  Performance  of  Buildings  Directive  2010/31/EU  on  12 June  2018,  25 September  2018  and 
23 October 2018. 
In  particular,  in  cooperation  with  ENSREG,  the  Commission  supported  the  effective  implementation  of  the 
first Topical Peer Review on ‘Ageing management of nuclear power plants and research reactors’ under the 
EU amended Nuclear Safety Directive (Directive 2014/87/Euratom). A highlight of this process was the Peer 
Review Workshop that took place in Luxembourg from 14 to 18 May 2018 involving around 140 participants. 
40  Such as Committee for the Common Organisation of the Agricultural Markets, Rural Development Committee 
(RDC),  Committee  on  the  Agricultural  Funds,  Committee  for  Direct  payments,  Agricultural  Product  Quality 
Policy Committee, Regulatory Committee on Organic Production. 

41  Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. 
42  Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013. 
43  Regulation (EU) No 508/2014. 
44  Directive 2011/70/Euratom. 
45   Directive 2014/87/Euratom. 

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In enforcing the EU’s maritime affairs and fisheries legislation, the Commission relies heavily on a 
system  of  verifications,  inspections  and  audits  by  Commission  inspectors46.  In  addition,  the  control 
action plans adopted by the Commission in close cooperation with the Member State concerned are a 
strong  tool  to  promote  the  correct  enforcement  of  EU  legislation  and  of  the  sanctioning  system.  In 
2018,  the  Commission  adopted  new  action  plans  for  several  Member  States  and  actively  monitored 
their implementation. On the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products, 
the Commission ensures that Member States carry out regular checks on proper implementation of the 
relevant EU legislation47. 

In the agricultural sector, the Commission uses audits and financial correction procedures (known as 
‘conformity clearance’) to check whether the Member States have set up control systems ensuring that 
payments to beneficiaries from the EU funds are made correctly48. 

Furthermore, Member States regularly notify to the Commission their policy decisions as well as data 
on their annual implementation of direct payments. The Commission uses these notifications to guide 
Member  States  towards  more  uniform  implementation.  When  the  Commission  detects  systemic 
deficiencies in the control systems for direct payments, it requests Member States to set up remedial 
action  plans.  If  a  Member  State  fails  to  comply  with  the  action  plan,  the  Commission  may  decide  to 
suspend or reduce payments. 

In  the  area  of  civil  law,  the  Commission  launched  a  wide-ranging  campaign  in  2018  to  raise  public 
awareness of  the Citizen’s Guide  on the Succession  Regulation49, published  in  2017.  The campaign 
triggered a wide response from the public, in particular through online channels. 

In 2018, the Commission continued to encourage and support the use of judicial training in all areas 
of  EU  law.  The  Commission’s  target  of  reaching  half  (800 000)  of  all  legal  practitioners  in  EU  law 
between 2011 and 2020 was achieved 2 years early50. 

The  Commission  continued  to  support  Member  States  in  improving  their  enforcement  and  remedies 
capacity  and  was  involved  in  a  number  of  joint  actions  with  national  bodies  to  enforce  consumer 
protection  rules.  Following  the  ‘Dieselgate’  emission  scandal,  Volkswagen  committed  to  continue 
undertaking  repairs  free  of  charge  until  the  end  of  2020.  In  2018,  action  began  against  AirBnB  to 
improve the transparency of their pricing and bring their terms of service into line with EU standards. 

In  the  field  of  energy,  the  Commission  used  the  Concerted  Action  forum  in  2018,  which  gathers 
representatives  of  Member  States  and  other  interested  parties,  to  exchange  best  practices  when 
applying specific EU instruments. Key discussion topics concerned the implementation of the Energy 
Performance of Buildings Directive51 and the Energy Efficiency Directive52. 

46  Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. 
47  Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013. 
48  European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 

(EAFRD). 

49  Regulation (EU) No 650/2012. 
50  2018 European judicial training report. 
51  Directive 2010/31/EU. 
52  Directive 2012/27/EU. 

9 

 
 
 
                                                 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

II. 

Infringement procedures 

There are four 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  State’s 

c) 

d) 

legislation is not in line with the requirements of EU directives; 
infringement  of  the  Treaties,  regulations  or  decisions:  the  Commission  considers  that  a 
Member State’s legislation is not in line with the requirements of the Treaties, EU regulations 
or decisions; 
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 if 
the  Member  State  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  has  not  taken  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  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 where the Court identifies 
situations of non-conformity of national legislation with EU law. 

Over recent  years, the Commission has taken concrete measures to improve the transparency of its 
monitoring activities and decisions on infringement procedures. It has set up a centralised platform for 
the  Europa  portal.  This  provides  detailed 
disseminating 
information  on  the  decisions  the  Commission  takes  on  infringement  procedures,  including  press 
material on specific cases. Since 2017, the press material covers all formal steps of the infringement 
procedure. 

infringement-related 

information  on 

In  addition,  every  year  the  Commission  provides  information  in  its  annual  reports  on  monitoring  the 
implementation of EU legislation, on the follow-up given to complaints and on parliamentary petitions 
and infringement procedures. 

10 

 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

The  Commission  remains  committed  to  improving  the  transparency  of  its  enforcement  action.  At  the 
same  time,  it  has  to  give  due  account  to  the  legitimate  need  for  confidentiality  with  regard  to  the 
Member States in infringement procedures, as recognised by the Court of Justice. 

Following up on the findings and suggestions made by  the Court of Auditors in its  landscape review 
and by the European Ombudsman, the present report provides additional information on trends in the 
handling of complaints and investigations about potential breaches of EU law. 

Trends in complaints and investigations about potential breaches 
of EU law 

3 715 

3 450 

3 783 

3 786 

3850 

1208 

893 

2014

881 

742 

2015

986 

790 

2016

716 

178 

2017

644 

110 

2018

New complaints registered

New EU Pilot files

New infringement cases

Time taken to investigate potential breaches of EU law  

4000

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

s
e

l
i
f

f
o
r
e
b
m
u
n

l

a
t
o
T

114 

53 
41 

99 

60 

39 

87 

69 

37 

91 

90 

37 

116 

109 

44 

3744 

1336 

932 

3315 

968 

721 

2014

2015

3458 

3611 

3882 

875 

967 

2016

512 

814 

2017

397 

632 

2018

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

s
k
e
e
w

f
o
r
e
b
m
u
N

Total number of complaints
Total number of EU Pilot files
Total number of infringement cases
Average time for handling complaints (in weeks)
Average time for handling EU Pilot (in weeks)
Average time for handling infringement cases (in weeks)

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

III.  Before an infringement procedure is started 

1.  Detecting problems 

1.1. Complaints 

The Commission registered 3 850 new complaints in 2018. The number of new complaints 
reached its highest level since 2014. 

The chart below shows further key data on complaints from members of the public53: 

Public complaints open at year-end 

3 598  >  Complaints open at end-2017 

3 850  >  New complaints registered in 2018 

3 882  >  Complaints handled in 2018 

= 3 566   >  Complaints open at end-2018 

The three Member States against which the Commission received the most complaints were 
Italy, Spain and France. 

•  Spain:  486  complaints,  especially  in  connection  with:  justice  and  consumers  (142 

complaints); employment (99 complaints); and environment (57 complaints);  

•  France:  316  complaints,  mainly  related  to:  justice  and  consumers  (72  complaints); 

employment (44 complaints); and migration and home affairs (43 complaints); and 

• 

Italy: 633 complaints, most of them related to: internal market, industry, entrepreneurship 
and SMEs (312 complaints); environment (75 complaints); and justice and consumers (70 
complaints). 

53  The  number  of  complaints  open  at  end-2018  (d)  is  calculated  by  adding  together  the  number  of  complaint 
files  open  at  end-2017  (a)  and  of  new  complaints  opened  in  2018  (b),  then  subtracting  the  number  of 
complaints handled during 2018 (c) (a+b-c=d). 

12 

 
 
                                                 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

The following chart shows  the main policy  areas in  which new complaints  were  registered in 
2018. Together they account for 87 % of all complaints received in 2018. 

New complaints registered in 2018: main policy areas 

Employment and 
social affairs 
487 

[CATEGORY 
NAME] 
[VALUE] 

Taxation and 
customs 
378 

Environment 
339 

Migration and 
home affairs 
212 
Mobility and 
transport 
135 

Financial stability, 
financial services 
and Capital 
Markets Union 
135 
Health and food 
safety 
109 

Other 
485 

Justice and 
consumers 
943 

The Commission handled 3 882 complaints in 2018. Once it has assessed complaints, the 
Commission  may  launch  an  investigation  using  the  EU  Pilot  mechanism  or  through  formal 
infringement procedures to clarify whether EU rules have been breached. Not all complaints in 
2018 led to such investigations, because either no EU laws were breached (2 574 complaints) 
or the correspondence did not qualify as a complaint (880)54. The Commission did not pursue 
223 cases as the complainants withdrew their complaint. It also transferred 20 complaints to 
other  redress  mechanisms,  such  as  SOLVIT.  The  Commission  therefore  closed  3 697 
complaints. 

54  According to the 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). 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

In  2018,  the  Commission  pursued  185  complaints  further  and  launched  investigations  using 
the EU Pilot mechanism or the formal infringement procedure. 

Complaints leading to investigations 

670 

458 

441 

135 

185 

3744 

3315 

3458 

3611 

3882 

2014 

2015 

2016 

2017 

2018 

Complaints closed

Complaints pursued

Complaints  leading  to  investigations  using  the  EU  Pilot  mechanism  were  most  frequently 
related to taxation and the customs union; agriculture and rural development; the environment; 
financial stability, financial services and the Capital Markets Union; and mobility and transport. 
These complaints mainly concerned Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, France, Germany and Poland. 

In 2018, complaints leading to formal infringement procedures were most frequently related to 
taxation  and  the  customs  union;  the  internal  market,  industry,  entrepreneurship  and  SMEs; 
and  mobility  and  transport.  These  new  infringements  mainly  concerned  the  United  Kingdom, 
Bulgaria and Italy. 

1.2. Petitions 

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  2018.  The  Commission  systematically  ensures  follow-up  to  the  petitions  received. 
However, not all petitions lead to investigations about breaches of EU law, because either no 
EU laws were breached or the Commission had no power to act. In many cases, the situation 
presented in a petition is already being investigated by the Commission through EU Pilot or a 
formal infringement procedure. 

This section provides an overview of the follow-up the Commission gave to petitions in 2018 in 
the policy areas most concerned. 

On  the  environment,  the  Commission  received  approximately  220  new  petitions  in  2018.  It 
ensured  follow-up  and  provided  230  replies  to  new  or  existing  petitions.  In  some  cases,  the 
Commission  provided  more  than  one  reply  per  petition.  In  around  40 %  of  these  cases,  the 
Commission  was  already  pursuing  an  investigation  on  the  subject  raised  by  the  petitioner. 
Often,  petitioners  raised  individual  situations,  such  as  non-compliant  landfills,  inadequate 
treatment of urban waste water or bad air quality in certain areas. Such matters were already 
the  subject  of  infringement  action  taken  by  the  Commission  to  address  a  wider  structural 
problem. In the remaining cases (60 %), petitioners referred to non-implementation aspects of 
future policy, or to issues that fall outside the scope of EU legislation. In a significant number 
of these cases, the petitioners raised issues that could be better addressed by other bodies at 
local, regional or national level. 

The  Commission  handled  85  petitions  on  the  internal  market.  Most  of  them  concerned  the 
services sector. The Commission did not open any investigation following these petitions. 

14 

 
 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

In  the  area  of  employment  and  social  affairs,  the  Commission  dealt  with  62  petitions.  It 
launched one new investigation; for six other petitions the Commission had already launched 
a formal infringement procedure. In 42 cases, the Commission did not take further action. 

On  health  and  food  safety,  the  Commission  handled  51  petitions  in  2018.  It  launched  new 
investigations in 18 cases. The Commission did not pursue 30 cases further, because either it 
did not have competence or the current legal framework addressed the concerns raised by the 
petitioners. 

The  Commission  pursued  further  five  petitions  on  energy  concerning  nuclear  energy  and 
renewable energies. 

In transport, the  Commission had already  launched  a formal infringement procedure on the 
matter of compliance with the EU roadworthiness legislation raised by one petitioner. 

In the areas of financial services and the Capital Markets Union and maritime affairs and 
fisheries,  no  investigations  were  launched  in  2018.  The  issues  raised  in  petitions  were 
outside the Commission’s competence or no breach of EU law was detected. 

2.  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. However, the recourse to EU 
Pilot should not add 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  launches  infringement  procedures 
without  relying  on  the  EU  Pilot  mechanism,  unless  recourse  to  EU  Pilot  is  seen  as  useful  in  a 
given case. 

The  Commission  opened  110  new  EU  Pilot  files  in  2018.  Of  these,  24  were  triggered  by 
complaints  and  86  were  opened  by  the  Commission  on  its  own  initiative  (against  139  in  2017). 
The number of new EU Pilot files reached the lowest level since 2014. 

The following chart shows the main EU Pilot figures for 201855: 

EU Pilot files open at year-end 

841  >  EU Pilot files open at end-2017 

110  >  New EU Pilot files registered in 2018 

397  >  EU Pilot files handled in 2018 

= 554  >  EU Pilot files open at end-2018 

55  The number of EU Pilot files open at end-2018 (d) is calculated by adding together the numbers of files open 
at end-2017 (a) and of new files opened in 2018 (b), then subtracting the number of files handled during 2018 
(c) (a+b-c=d). 

15 

 
 
 
                                                 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

The  following  pie  chart  shows  the  policy  areas  in  which  the  Commission  opened  the  most  new 
EU Pilot files in 2018: 

EU Pilot files opened in 2018: main policy areas 

Environment 
21 

Migration and 
home affaris 
16 

Energy 
44 

Taxation and 
customs 
10 

Other 
19 

The  Commission  handled  397  EU  Pilot  files  in  2018.  It  closed  290  of  these  after  receiving 
satisfactory  answers  from  the  Member  States  concerned.  This  gives  a  resolution  rate  of  73 %, 
which is below the 2017 level. 

Altogether,  107  EU  Pilot  files  were  closed  because  the  Commission  rejected  the  responses 
provided  by  Member  States.  Of  these,  37  were  followed  up  by  launching  formal  infringement 
procedures. While four of these procedures were based on complaints, the Commission launched 
the remaining 33 on its own initiative. 

Most  EU  Pilot  files  which  led  to  formal  infringement  procedures  concerned  the  policy  areas  of 
energy (15 cases) and environment (14). Romania and Spain had the highest number of files in 
EU Pilot which were pursued further through infringement procedures (three files each), followed 
by Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the United 
Kingdom (two files each). 

EU Pilot files (2014-2018) 

1336 

969 

75% 

75% 

875 

72% 

77% 

512 

73% 

397 

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Average resolution rate

EU Pilot files handled

16 

 
 
 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

At  the  end  of  2018,  554  EU  Pilot  files  were  open. The main  Member  States  concerned  were 
Italy  (45),  Spain  (39)  and  Germany  (35).  The  main  policy  area  concerned  continued  to  be 
environment  (180  open  files),  followed  by  justice  and  fundamental  rights  (84),  migration  and 
home affairs (46) and internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs (43). 

EU Pilot files and infringement cases (2014-2018) 

1347 

1208 

893 

1368 
881 

742 

1657 

986 

790 

1559 

1571 

716 

178 

644 

110 

2018

2014

2015

2016

2017

Infringemen cases open at year-end

New EU Pilot files

New infringements cases

17 

 
 
 
 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

IV.  Stages in infringement procedures 

1.  Pre-litigation phase 

The Commission launched  644 new procedures by sending a letter of formal notice in 2018. 
Out of these, the Commission launched procedures on its own initiative in 156 cases. 

The following chart gives the breakdown by Member State. 

New infringement cases at  
31 December 2018 

37 

31  31 

30 

32 

26  26  26  27  27 

28 29 

17  17  17  18 

19  19 

21  21  22  22  22 

20  20 

14  14 

11 

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

Most new infringement cases are for late transposition of EU directives. 

Trends in new infringement procedures 

585 

184 

122 

543 

128 

71 

847 

112 

27 

558 

129 

29 

419 
151 

74 

2014 

2015 

2016 

2017 

2018 

Late transposition

Treaties, regulations & decisions

Other (bad application and non-conformity)

18 

 
 
 
 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

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

New infringement cases opened in 2018: main policy areas 

Environment 
73 

Energy 
58 

Justice and 
consumers 
56 

Mobility and 
Transport 
97 

Internal market, 
industry, 
entrepreneurship 
and SMEs 
101 

Communication 
networks 
56 

Migration and home 
affairs 
52 

Health and food 
safety 
50 

Other 
60 

Taxation and 
customs 
41 

The Commission also sent 157 reasoned opinions to Member States in 2018. The main policy 
areas concerned were financial stability, financial services and the Capital Markets Union (37), 
environment (30), mobility and transport (26), and justice and consumers (19). 

The following chart gives the breakdown by Member State. 

Reasoned opinions sent to Member States in 2018 

19 

2  2  2  2  2 

1 

3  3  3 

4  4  4  4 

5  5  5  5  5 

11  11 

10 

9  9 

8 

7 

6  6 

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

At the end of 2018, 1 571 infringement cases remained open. This is a slight increase from the 
previous year, as the following chart shows. 

Infringement cases open at year-end (2014-2018) 
1 657 

1 559 

1571 

1 347 

1 368 

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

19 

 
 
 
 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

The following chart shows the number of open infringement cases by Member State at the end 
of 2018: 

Infringement cases open on 31 December 2018 

97 

36 

79  80 

76 

65  66  67  67 

70  70 

45  47  48  48  50  52  52  54 

57  59  60  62 

17  23  22 

33 

26  34  35 

20 

19  18 

21 

26  27  34  33 

33 

43 

18  24 

22  24 

25 

17 

9 

31 

32  41 

39 

48 

32  17  34 

9 

8 
3 
EE DK FI LT LV MT LU NL HR SE HU IE SK SI PT RO BG FR UK AT CZ CY PL IT EL BE DE ES

13  10  12 

18  14  10  10  7  12 

15  13 

5  5 

13 

12 

22 

21 

20  20 

15 
6  10  5  5 

32  32  33 

37  39 

27 

16 

13 

10 

21  34 

23 

22  22 
7  4  9  12 
4 
3  7  5  6  7 

20  26  26 

14 

17  17 

Late transposition infringements

Infringements for incorrect transposition and/or bad application of directives

Infringements of regulations, treaties and decisions

Top figures: Total number of infringements

The following chart shows the breakdown of the infringement cases open at the end of 2018, 
by policy area: 

Infringement cases open at end-2018: policy areas 

Justice and 
consumers 
160 

Migration and 
home affairs 
145 

Internal market, 
industry, 
entrepreneurship 
and SMEs 
172 

Mobility and 
transport 
244 

Financial stability, 
financial services 
and capital 
markets union 
144 

Taxation and 
customs 
100 

Energy 
93 

Communication 
networks 
67 
Employment 
60 

Environment 
298 

Health and food 
safety 
34 

Other 
54 

20 

 
 
 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

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 2018, the Commission closed: 

•  355 infringements after sending letters of formal notice56; 
•  219 cases after sending reasoned opinions;  
•  18 cases after deciding to refer the case to the Court but before submitting the application 
and 19 cases following a Court judgment. In addition, the Commission withdrew 21 cases 
from the Court before the latter handed down its ruling. The Commission withdrew these 
cases as the Member States concerned took the necessary measures to comply with EU 
law. 

In  2018,  the  Commission  referred  and  submitted  30  cases  to  the  Court  under  Article 258 
TFEU. 

The  Commission  referred  two  cases  to  the  Court  under  Article 260(2)  TFEU  and  23  cases 
under Articles 258 and 260(3) with financial sanctions. 

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

In  2018  the  Court  issued  27  judgments  under  Article 258  TFEU  and  five  judgments  under 
Article 260(2)  TFEU.  Thirty-one  were  in  the  Commission’s  favour,  one  was  in  the  Member 
State’s favour57. 

Poland  (four),  Germany  (three),  Spain  (two),  and  Austria  (two)  were  the  subject  of  the  most 
Court judgments under Article 258 TFEU in 2018. 

32 judgments under Articles 258 and 260(2) TFEU 

4 

3 

3 

3 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

0 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

4 

3 

3 

3 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

PL DE EL ES AT BE CZ

IT UK BG DK FR HU IE MT RO SI

SK

Total number of judgements

Top figures: Judgements in favour of the Commission

Includes six letters of formal notice under Article 260 TFEU. 

56 
57  Commission v Denmark, C-541/16. 

21 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

Member  States  frequently  take  the  measures  needed  to  comply  with  a  Court  judgment 
promptly. However, at the end of the year, 99 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) Spain (10), Germany (eight), Italy (eight) and the United Kingdom (seven) 
These  cases  mainly  related  to  environment  (53),  transport  and  mobility  (13),  taxation  and 
customs (11), and internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs (six). 

Of these 99 cases, 14 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  2018,  the  Court  delivered  five  judgments 
under  Article 260(2)  TFEU.  It  imposed  penalty  payments  on  Greece58,  Spain59,  Italy60,  and 
Slovakia61. At the end of 2018, 13 infringement procedures were still open after a Court ruling 
under Article 260(2) TFEU. 

58  Commission v Greece, C-93/17 and C-328/16. 
59  Commission v Spain, C-205/17. 
60  Commission v Italy, C-565/10. 
61  Commission v Slovakia, C-331/11. 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

V.  Transposition of directives 

1.  EU directives to be transposed in 2014-2018 

In 2018, the Parliament and the Council adopted 42 directives. Most of these directives modify 
existing  laws;  there  were  four  new  directives  and  one  codifying  directive  (which  does  not 
impose  a  new  transposition  deadline).  Most  of  these  directives  were  in  the  areas  of 
environment (11), taxation and customs union and health and food safety (six directives each). 
Eleven directives required explanatory documents. 

At the same time, there were 50 directives to be transposed in 2018, up from 36 in 2017. For 
these  directives,  Member  States  notified  4 193  national  transposition  measures  to  the 
Commission  by  the  end  of  201862.  On  average,  Member  States  notified  83  measures  per 
directive. 

National transposition measures notified per year 

5000 

4231 

4193 

3393 

3084 

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Notified transposition measures

In  2018,  the  highest  number  of  notifications  were  submitted  by  the  Czech  Republic  (598 
notifications), Hungary (355)  and Lithuania (301). The lowest number of notifications were 
submitted by Cyprus (36), Ireland (42) and Greece (47). 

The  transposition  of  the  Directive  on  safety  standards  for  protection  against  the  dangers 
arising  from  exposure  to  ionising  radiation  triggered  the  highest  number  of  notifications  (561 
notifications)63.  The  two  directives  with  the  next  highest  number  of  notifications  were  the 
Directive  on  combating  terrorism  (410  notifications)64  and  the  Students  and  researchers 
Directive (388 notifications)65. 

62  There is a difference between the number of all measures notified by the Member States to the Commission 
and the number of measures visible on EUR-Lex. Not all measures notified by the Member State are visible 
on the EUR-Lex website: the explanatory documents and administrative provisions that are not public in the 
Member States are not transmitted for publication. 

63  Directive 2013/59/Euratom. 
64  Directive 2017/541/EU. 
65  Directive 2014/65/EU. 

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2018 Annual Report 

2.  Transposition deadlines 

Out of 50 directives to be transposed in 2018 there were nine directives with a transposition 
deadline shorter than one year from the moment of their publication. 

The  average  period  to  transpose  directives  was  19  months.  The  directive  with  the  longest 
transposition  period  and  deadline  in  2018  (60  months)  was  the  Asylum  Procedures 
Directive66. This directive however had two different transposition deadlines67. 

A short transposition period does not always result in an increased number of infringement for 
late transposition. Out of three directives with a transposition period of less than three months, 
only one triggered a significant number of late transposition infringement cases (11 cases — 
Directive laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels)68. For the two other 
directives69,  the  Commission  launched  only  three  late  transposition  infringement  cases  in 
total. 

3.  Transparency 

In 2018, the Commission took concrete measures to enhance transparency of its decisions on 
infringement procedures and to encourage Member States to be more transparent as regards 
the national measures transposing EU directives. The Commission invited Member States to 
agree to the publication of the text of these measures on EUR-Lex. Up to now, eight Member 
States  have  already  agreed  to  do  so:  Estonia,  Greece,  Spain,  Cyprus,  Latvia,  Luxembourg, 
Austria and Slovakia. The Commission also invited  Member States to make their declaration 
of transposition public on EUR-Lex70, which accompanies the national transposition measures 
notified to the Commission. Only Greece has already agreed to do so. 

In line with the commitments taken in the Inter-Institutional Agreement on Better Law-making, 
the  Commission  encouraged  Member  States  to  identify  which  provisions  stem  from  an  EU 
directive and which are in no way related to that Union legislation. Members of the public have 
an interest in knowing  which national transposition measures go beyond the requirements of 
EU  directives.  Up  to  now,  only  two  Member  States  provided  this  information  to  the 
Commission71. 

66   Directive 2013/32/EU. 
67   The first transposition deadline concerned the majority of the Directive’s provisions. The second transposition 
deadline concerned provisions related to the duration of the examination procedure for asylum applications at 
the national level. 
68  Directive 2018/970/EU. 
69  Directives 2018/597/EU and 2018/912. 
70   By this declaration, the Member State informs the Commission whether it considers that the transposition is 

complete. 

71  Belgium for Directive 2010/63/EU and the United Kingdom for Directives 2016/680/EU and 2016/681/EU. 

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4.  Late transposition infringements 

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.5). 

Directives and late transposition infringement cases 

847 

585 

543 

558 

419 

67 

56 

70 

36 

50 

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Number of directives with transposition deadline in a given year

New late transposition infringements

New  number  of  late  transposition  infringements  decreased  from  558  in  2017  to  419  in 
201872. 

At  the  end  of  2018,  758  late  transposition  infringement  cases  were  still  open,  a  6 % 
decrease from the 808 cases open at the end of 2017. 

808  >  Late transposition cases open at end-2017 

419  >  New late transposition cases registered in 2018 

469  >  Late transposition cases closed in 2018 

= 758  >  Late transposition cases open at end-2018 

72  The current annual report does not cover the late transposition infringement cases opened for directives that 
had  a  transposition  deadline  in  November  and  December  2018  (17  directives).  The  Commission  launched 
these cases in January 2019. Therefore, they will be included in the next annual report. 

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2018 Annual Report 

The following chart shows the number of late transposition infringement cases open at the end 
of 2018, by Member State, irrespective of the year in which the case was opened and new late 
transposition infringement cases (419 in total) opened in 2018, by Member State. 

Late transposition infringement cases in 2018 

43 

41 

31  32  33  33  33  34  34  34  35  36 

20  21 

17 

16 

13 

11 

26  26  26  26  27 

22  22  22  23  23 

17  17  17 

17 

9 

9 

11 

9 

6 

13 

10  10 

12  12  13 

13 

13 

9 

26 

27 

21 

21 

19 

20 

18  17 

15  16 

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

New late transposition infringement cases in 2018

Late transposition infringement cases open at the year-end

The  policy  areas  in  which  the  new  cases  were  launched  in  2018  are  shown  in  the  following 
chart: 

New late transposition infringement cases opened in 2018: 
main policy areas 

Justice and 
consumers 
52 

Migration and 
home affairs 
50 

Communication 
networks 
53 

Internal market, 
industry, 
entrepreneurship 
and SMEs 
60 

Health and food 
safety 
50 

Environment 
41 

Other  
113 

New cases were launched against 19 Member States for late transposition of the Directive on 
the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent 

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2018 Annual Report 

authorities  (for  the  purposes  of  the  prevention,  investigation,  detection  or  prosecution  of 
criminal  offences  or  the  execution  of  criminal  penalties)73,  Directive  on  the  protection  of 
undisclosed  know-how  and  business  information  (trade  secrets)  against  their  unlawful 
acquisition74 and Web accessibility Directive75. The Commission launched procedures against 
17 Member States over the late transposition of the Students and researchers Directive76 and 
the  Directive  concerning  measures  for  a  high  common  level  of  security  of  network  and 
information systems across the Union77. 

5.  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  it 
refers a case for the first time to the  Court of Justice  under Article 258 TFEU on the ground 
that a Member State has failed to 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 proposes the level of financial to the Court in line with the policy laid 
down  in  its  Communications  on  the  implementation  of  Article  260(3)  TFEU  and  on  the 
calculation method for lump sum payments and daily penalty payments78. 

In 2018, 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 five Member 
States  to  the  Court  in  2018:  Slovenia  (three  cases)79,  Spain  (three  cases)80,  and  Belgium81, 
Ireland82 and Romania83 (one case each). 

In  13  other  cases,  the  Commission  took  a  decision  to  refer  them  to  Court  but  the  Member 
States concerned adopted the required transposition measures, prompting the Commission to 
withdraw  the  case  before  the  Court  delivered  its  ruling.  These  cases  concerned  late 
transposition of the following Directives: i) on collective management of copyright and related 
rights  and  multi-territorial  licensing  of  rights  in  musical  works  for  online  use  in  the  internal 
market84;  ii)  on  the  award  of  concession  contracts85;  iii)  on  public  procurement86;  iv)  on 
procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors87; 
and v) establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning88. 

73  Directive 2016/680/EU. 
74  Directive 2016/943/EU. 
75  Directive 2016/2102/EU. 
76  Directive 2016/801/EU. 
77  Directive 2016/1148/EU. 
78  OJ, C 12, 15.01.2011, p.1-5. 
79  Commission v Slovenia,  C-628/18, the Commission proposed a daily penalty of EUR 7.224, a lump sum of 
EUR 1.978  per  day,  with  a  minim  amount  of  EUR 496.000;  C-69/18,  the  Commission  proposed  a  daily 
penalty of EUR 7 986.60; C-188/18, the Commission proposed a daily penalty of EUR 8 992.32. 

80  Commission v Spain, C-430/18, the Commission proposed a daily penalty of EUR 48 919.20; C-165/18, the 
Commission  proposed  a  daily  penalty  of  EUR 123 928.64;  C-164/18,  the  Commission  proposed  a  daily 
penalty of EUR 61 964.32. 

81  Commission v Belgium, C-676/18: the Commission proposed a daily penalty of EUR 49.906.50. 
82  Commission v Ireland, C-550/18, the Commission proposed a daily penalty of EUR 17.169.60, a lump sum of 

EUR 4.701.20, with a minimum amount of EUR 1.685.000. 

83  Commission v Romania, C-549/18, the Commission proposed a daily penalty of EUR 21.974.40, a lump sum 

of EUR 6.016.80, with a minimum amount of EUR 1.887.000. 

84  Directive 2014/26/EU. 
85  Directive 2014/23/EU. 
86  Directive 2014/24/EU. 
87  Directive 2014/25/EU. 
88  Directive 2014/89/EU. 

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VI.  Methodology and explanations 

Infringement procedures 

First chart: Trends in complaints and investigations about potential breaches of EU law 

This chart shows aggregated data over a five-year period covering new complaints registered, new EU 
Pilot files and new infringement cases. 

Second chart: Time taken to investigate potential breaches of EU law 

This shows the total number of files (complaints, EU Pilot and infringement cases) closed in a given 
year with the average time in weeks needed before taking a decision to close them. This means that 
certain  files  are  potentially  counted  in  all  three  categories,  if  the  initial  complaint  becomes  an 
infringement. 

Before an infringement procedure is started 

Complaints 

First chart: Complaints open at year-end 

This  starts  with  the  number  of  open  complaints  carried  over  from  2017  (first  line).  The  second  line 
shows  the  number  of  new  complaints  registered  in  2018.  The  third  line  shows  the  number  of 
complaints  on  which  the  Commission  took  a  decision  in  2018.  The  fourth  line  shows  the  number  of 
complaints  open  at  the  end  of  2018  (calculated  by  taking  the  first  figure,  adding  the  second  and 
subtracting the third). 

Second chart: New complaints registered in 2018 (main policy areas)89 

This shows the main policy areas for which new complaints were registered in 2018. 

Third chart: Complaints leading to investigations 

This  shows  the  number  of complaints,  which  the  Commission  pursued  them further  by  launching  an 
investigation  about  breaches  of  EU  law  (via  EU  Pilot  mechanism  or  launching  a  formal  infringement 
procedure). 

EU Pilot 

First chart: EU Pilot files open at year-end 

This starts with the number of open EU Pilot files carried over from 2017 (first line). The second line 
shows the number of new EU Pilot files opened in 2018. The third line shows the number of files on 
which  the  Commission  took  a  decision  in  2018.  The  fourth  line  shows  the  number  of  EU  Pilot  files 
open  at the end of 2018 (calculated by taking the first figure, adding the second and subtracting the 
third). 

89  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 
2018 Annual Report 

Second chart: EU Pilot files opened in 2018 (main policy areas) 

This shows the policy areas in which the new EU Pilot files were opened in 2018. 

Third chart: EU Pilot files (2014-2018) 

This shows the number of EU Pilot files processed in a given year and the resolution rate in that year. 
The resolution rate is the percentage of EU Pilot files handled for which the Commission accepted the 
Member States’ responses. 

Fourth chart: EU Pilot files and infringement cases 

This  compares  the  number  of  new  EU  Pilot  files  and  new  infringement  cases  in  an  overlay  with  the 
total number of infringement cases open at the year-end. 

Stages in infringement procedures 

First chart: New infringement cases at 31 December 2018 

This shows the number of new infringement cases opened in 2018, by Member State. 

Second chart: Trends in new infringement procedures 

This  shows  comparison  —  over  a  five-year  period  —  between  different  types  of  infringement  cases 
originating  as  late  transposition  cases,  breaches  of  regulations  and  treaties  and  bad  application  or 
non-conformity with directives. 

Third chart: New infringement cases opened in 2018 (main policy areas) 

This shows the main policy areas in which the new infringement cases were opened in 2018. 

Fourth chart: Reasoned opinions sent to Member States in 2018 

This shows the number of reasoned opinions sent to Member States in 2018. 

Fifth chart: Infringement cases open at year-end (2014-2018) 

This shows the number of infringements that remained open on 31 December of each year from 2014 
to 2018. 

Sixth chart: Infringement cases open on 31 December 2018 

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  2018  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, late transposition infringements and breaches 
of regulations and treaties. 

Accordingly, the numbers include all cases that, on 31 December 2018: 

  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 

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Monitoring the application of European Union law 
2018 Annual Report 

 

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. 

Seventh chart: Infringement cases open at end-2018: policy areas 

This shows the breakdown, by policy area, of the infringement cases open on 31 December 2018. 

Eighth chart: Court of Justice judgments under Article 258 and 260(2) TFEU in 2018 

This shows the total number of Court of Justice judgments and the number of judgments in favour of 
the Commission and the Member States. 

Transposition of directives 

Late transposition infringements 

First chart: National transposition measures notified per year 

This  shows  the  total  number  of  national  transposition  measures  submitted  by  Member  States  to  the 
Commission in a given year. 

Second chart: Directives and late transposition infringement cases 

This  shows  how  many  directives  had  to  be  transposed  in  the  years  2014-2018  and  how  many  new 
infringement cases for late transposition were opened in that period. 

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

This starts with the number of late transposition infringements carried over from 2017 (first line). The 
second  line  shows  the  number  of  new  late  transposition  infringements  registered  in  2018.  The  third 
line shows the number of complaints on which the Commission took a decision in 2018. The fourth line 
shows the number of late transposition infringements open at the end of 2018 (calculated by taking the 
first figure, adding the second and subtracting the third). 

Fourth chart: Late transposition infringement cases in 2018 

This shows the number of late transposition infringements open at year-end for each Member State, 
irrespective  of  the  year  in  which  the  infringement  was  opened.  In  addition,  it  also  shows  new  late 
transposition infringement cases opened in 2018 for each Member State. 

Fifth chart: New late transposition infringement cases opened in 2018 (main policy areas) 

This  shows  the  main  policy  areas  in  which  the  procedures  for  late  transposition  were  launched  in 
2018. 

30