European Commission: infringement procedures for incorrect transposition or wrong application of EU law up in 2020. Bad performance by Italy

Overall, in 2020, the Commission opened 903 new infringement cases, which represents a 13% increase compared to 2019. Bulgaria, Italy, Malta and Greece are the countries with the highest number of new infringement procedures opened against them for incorrect transposition or application of EU law, whereas Denmark, Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands had the lowest number of infringement cases. This is according to the Annual Report on Monitoring the Application of EU Law, adopted by the European Commission today, which explains how the Commission monitored and enforced EU law in 2020, and how the Member States performed in various policy areas. The pandemic has had an impact in this field too. For instance, “many Member States unilaterally introduced export restrictions on medicines, protective equipment and other COVID-19 relevant products”, a statement reads, which was sanctioned by the Commission “with urgent infringement procedures”. Also, 11 EU Member States were subject to infringement procedures for “failing to protect the rights of consumers who bought package trips and who did not receive an appropriate compensation after their trips were cancelled”. Given the context, however, the Commission “looked for ways to ease the burden on Member States”, for instance by applying longer deadlines for replies. Italy was subject to 36 new infringement procedures (at the end of 2020, 86 procedures were pending against Italy). The Commission also registered 419 new complaints about alleged or potential breaches of EU law against Italy.
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