State Liability Flashcards
Faccini Dori; Wagner Miret
The remedy is left to damages where both indirect effect and direct effect are unavailable.
What provisions set out the procedure? What is procedure and what is the weakness?
Art 258-260 -
- Initial action brought declaring that there has been a breach.
- Follow-up CJEU judgement determining sanction.
Time consuming! Takes up to 2 years per action.
Factortame (CJEU)
Even if direct effect was available, it may not be sufficient - and state liability may also be available.
Hedley Lomas (2 points regarding supremacy)
State liability is a corollary to Supremacy laid down in Simmenthal.
To protect individual rights, just as individuals can have legislation disapplied through direct effect, they can also obtain damages for application of legislation which SHOULD have been disapplied.
Name the three phases of state liability
- Deference to national procedure
- Intervention: reign of state liability
- Retrenchment: state liability is available, but difficult to satisfy.
Phase 1 (one case)
(Rewe)
No general EU law remedy available. Any remedies for breach of DIRECTLY EFFECTIVE (only) EU law were to be set by national law.
Subject to two requirements set by CJEU, still relevant today.
- Equivalence
Procedures and remedies cannot be less favourable than those for similar domestic actions. - Effectiveness
Cannot make it “impossible in practice” to exercise the rights.
How was phase 2 justified?
- Sui generis legal order;
2. Principle of loyal cooperation (both art 4(3) TEU)
facts in Francovich
Compensation fund must be set up compensating employees of bankrupt companise. Not implemented properly in Italy and direct effect could not succeed.
Justification in Francovich (4 points)
Full effectiveness of EU law
Conferring rights on individuals
State Liability is a constitutional principle of EU law.
And where MS have ‘no real discretion’ whether to implement
Three conditions in Francovich
- Result of Directive must confer rights on individuals
- Rights of identifiable content
- Causal link between breach of State’s obligation and losses sustained by individuals
What 4 questions were left over after Francovich?
- Is state liability only available for non-implementation of Directive?
- Is it only available where provisions don’t have direct effect?
- Is fault by the State necessary? Mitigation?
- What counts as a State?
Why were the parties in Brasserie and Factortame III not satisfied until they received damages?
Both Brasserie (Art 34 TFEU) and Factortame (Art 49 TFEU)
were directly effective Primary EU law. But this took a decade of litigation and the businesses suffered in the meantime.
Can non-Directive provisions be the subject of state liability after Brasserie/Factortame III?
Yes
Three conditions after Brasserie/Factortame III
- Rule must intend to confer rights on individuals (and have identifiable content: Dillenkofer, incorporating Francovich)
- Breach must be sufficiently serious.
- Direct causal link between breach and loss.
Criteria for serious breach in Brasserie/Factortame III (Name 3)
- Clarity of rule breached
- Amount of discretion
- Intentional breach?
- Excusable? Ex. if other MS also breached it, or mislead by the Commission
- Contributory position of EU institutions