Sanctions for Infringement of EU Law after the Treaty of Lisbon

The Lisbon Treaty took a further step towards enhancing the effectiveness of EU law by making two changes to the process of imposing financial sanctions upon Member States for breach of EU law, and the Commission has announced its intention to implement the new rules.The key question is whether these changes will make a significant contribution toward achieving their intended objective. To examine that question, this paper first sets out the background to the new provisions and the Commission?s new policy. It then analyses in turn the scope of the new rules, the substantive grounds for liability of Member States, the enforcement of Article 260 judgments, and the impact of the new rules on compliance with EU law and the role of the Court of Justice. Finally, it makes recommendations as regards the effective use of the new procedures.