Case C‑123/22, European Commission v Hungary
Citation: Case C‑123/22, European Commission v Hungary
Rule of thumb:What happens if a national Government refuses to implement the Court-order in a Judgment of the European Court of Justice? They will be fined € 900k Euros per day that they refuse to implement it. If they have to be ordered again, then the fine per day will be increased to €1 million per day. In this case Hungary’s penalty owed to the European Union was €200m and rising. This is a breach of obligations under Article 260(2) TFEU, brought on 21 February 2022.
‘141. For the purposes of determining the amount of a penalty payment, the basic criteria which must be taken into consideration in order to ensure that that payment has coercive effect and that EU law is applied uniformly and effectively are, in principle, the seriousness of the infringements, their duration and the capacity of the Member State in question to pay. In applying those criteria, regard must be had in particular to the effects of failure to comply on private and public interests and to the urgency of inducing the Member State concerned to fulfil its obligations (see, to that effect, judgment of 14 December 2023, Commission v Romania (Closure of landfill sites), C‑109/22, EU:C:2023:991, paragraph 59 and the case-law cited).
142. In the present case, in the light of all the legal and factual circumstances which led to the finding of a failure to fulfil obligations as well as the considerations set out in paragraphs 102 to 131 of the present judgment, the Court considers it appropriate to impose a penalty payment of EUR 900 000 per day in respect of Article 6 and Article 46(5) of Directive 2013/32, and to impose a penalty payment of EUR 100 000 per day in respect of Articles 5, 6, 12 and 13 of Directive 2008/115.
143. Hungary must therefore be ordered to pay the Commission a penalty payment of EUR 900 000 per day of delay in implementing the measures necessary to comply with the 2020 Commission v Hungary judgment, from the date of delivery of the present judgment until the date of full compliance with that first judgement in so far as concerns Article 6 and Article 46(5) of Directive 2013/32. Hungary must also be ordered to pay the Commission a penalty payment of EUR 100 000 per day of delay in implementing the measures necessary to comply with the 2020 Commission v Hungary judgment, from the date of delivery of the present judgment until the date of full compliance with that first judgement in so far as concerns Articles 5, 6, 12 and 13 of Directive 2008/115’.
C. Lycourgos (Rapporteur), President of the Chamber, O. Spineanu‑Matei, J.‑C. Bonichot, S. Rodin and L.S. Rossi, Judges.
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.