EU infringements, Italy rises to 65 procedures. How it goes in other European countries

While overall the number of procedures has decreased compared to previous years - on 1 June 2023 those opened against Italy were 82; jumping back five years, on 3 June 2019, there were 71 - the most critical issue remains the same: the environment. There are 19 open infringements for violations or non-transposition of European regulations in this area, a little less than a third of the total, including those already mentioned that chastise Italy on waste, air quality and plastic. This is followed by seven open procedures in the field of transport, six in economic and financial affairs and six in labour and social policies.

Officially, there are 135 ongoing infringement proceedings against Hungary, all at different stages. This could be considered an average number and, in fact, is also what the Hungarian government reports. In reality, some of the breaches of EU law are high-profile and widely reported cases that have been initiated against the country in recent years.

Viktor Orbán's government is increasingly hostile to the EU and in his speeches the prime minister has vowed to 'march against' Brussels. Orbán also wants to protect Hungary from foreign interference, including that of the EU.

For this reason, parliament passed the so-called Sovereignty Law, which creates a new authority with powers to investigate political activities carried out on behalf of, or financed by, a foreign interest. Media freedom organisations and NGOs compared the measure to Russia's Foreign Agents Act, and the Council of Europe also called for the Hungarian law to be abandoned. The European Commission acted quickly and started the infringement procedure in February, just a week after the measure came into force.

Another important infringement procedure concerning the rule of law was initiated in 2021 for the so-called 'child protection' law. Only a year later, in 2022, the Commission decided to refer Hungary to the EU Court of Justice for a law that, in its view, discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity. The Hungarian law, in particular, singles out and targets content that "promotes or portrays" what it defines as "divergence from the personal identity corresponding to sex at birth, gender reassignment or homosexuality" for those under the age of 18.

It is also very likely that Hungary may receive a heavy fine in another case. While the government has always complied with the decisions of the EU Court, this was not the case in a high-profile ruling concerning asylum seekers. In 2021, the Commission decided to refer Hungary to the Court of Justice, asking the Court to order the payment of fines for Hungary's non-compliance with a ruling on EU asylum and return rules.

The Hungarian Prime Minister has already stated that the Court will order a fine of HUF 6 million per day. This is indeed the amount requested by the Commission from the Court, but the ruling is only expected in June. In the meantime, this ruling is a perfect opportunity for Orbán in his election campaign, as it hits Brussels for punishing Hungary only because it protects EU borders.

Greece, 49 referrals in 2023 alone

On 25 January 2024, the European Commission announced the initiation of infringement proceedings against nine EU Member States for failure to notify the Commission of measures transposing the EU Directive on overall minimum taxation into their national laws by the deadline of 31 December 2023. The following Member States have received letters of formal notice from the Commission: Estonia, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Portugal. In 2023 alone, Greece was referred 49 times to the Commission for infringement issues. In 2022, the country failed to fulfil its obligations 22 times.

Only last May, the European Commission decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to correctly transpose the Proportionality Test Directive (EU Directive 2018/958) into its national law. This directive regulates the proportionality test for new or amended rules restricting access to or the exercise of regulated professions, the Commission said in a statement.

In the Commission's view, Greece has not ensured that all measures covered by the directive, in particular those that are the initiative of professional associations, parliamentary initiatives or parliamentary amendments, are subject to a prior assessment of proportionality. Moreover, Greece does not ensure continuous monitoring of the adopted rules, as the Greek authorities have not conveyed in a sufficiently clear manner the criterion of systematic or regular monitoring of proportionality over time.

The Commission initiated this infringement procedure as part of a broader enforcement action against Member States that have not correctly transposed the proportionality test directive into national law. A month earlier, the executive raised three different issues - respectively - on a case of 'passive corruption', Greece's 'insufficient' efforts to pay its suppliers, and compliance with European airspace rules.

The European Commission is suing Bulgaria in six cases at the EU Court of Justice for non-compliance with European law, according to a Mediapool study on the Luxembourg court database.

The cases go back to April 2023. The Commission demands that Bulgaria pay EUR 1,800 per day from the time it should have brought its laws into line with European law until the end of the infringement.

These amounts are standard for Commission requests. Bulgaria has so far managed to avoid the imposition of fines, even though it has been condemned by the Commission before the EU Court of Justice.

In addition to these cases, the European Commission has initiated 146 infringement procedures against Sofia. Most of the infringement proceedings concern the environment, in particular air and water pollution, as well as non-compliance with EU directives on waste management.

Over the past year, Bulgaria continues to delay updating its energy and climate targets. The official explanation is that the authorities in Sofia need time to adjust energy production and consumption precisely in the context of the EU's demand to increase the share of renewables.

Mediapool's research refutes these excuses. Over the past 15 years, government majorities have been formed in parliament that systematically seek to preserve coal-fired power plants, due to the enormous electoral potential of thousands of workers - especially for Bulgaria's largest party GERB (EPP).

Another infringement procedure was imposed because truck tolls are not paid according to how much they pollute the air.

Bulgaria is about to be sued for passing laws that allow private hospitals not to participate in public tenders even if they spend public money.

The European Commission insists that Bulgaria adopt adequate plans to handle gas supply crises and flooding.

The EU executive has already cited Bulgaria before the EU Court of Justice for failing to introduce measures to promote the use of clean and energy-efficient road vehicles. Another court case concerns the non-compatibility of the toll system with other EU systems. Another court case concerns the fact that Bulgaria does not allow mineral water from the same spring to be offered under different trade names, without an obligation to indicate the source on the label. Bulgaria has been sued for difficult access to public data, and there are also two lawsuits for insufficient copyright protection for online content.

*This article is part of the Pulse collaborative project and was written by Marta Casadei, Michela Finizio (Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy), Viktória Serdült (HVG, Hungary), Kostas Zafeiropoulos (EFSYN, Greece), Vladislava Peeva (Mediapool.bg, Bulgaria).