ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the EC Treaty provisions that enable the Commission to take legal action under Art 228(2) EC against a Member State that fails to adhere to the terms of a judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) made under the auspices of Art 226 or 227 EC. As noted in previous chapters, judgments made under the latter Treaty provisions are currently purely of a declaratory nature; the ECJ has no powers at the moment to apply any specific sanctions under Arts 226 or 227 in order to induce a defendant Member State to take specific action to remedy a judicial finding of defective implementation of EC environmental law. The 2004 European Union Constitution1 does, however, envisage providing the ECJ with specific penalty powers in first round proceedings where Member States fail to notify transposition legislation on time.2