LIABILITY OF A MEMBER STATE FOR DAMAGE CAUSED TO INDIVIDUALS BY AN INFRINGEMENT OF EU LAW

There must be a direct causal link between the Member State’s breach of EU law and the loss suffered by the applicant.

3. A Member State is liable regardless of the organ of the Member State whose act or omission infringed EU law. Accordingly, a Member State may be liable for damage caused to an individual by a manifest infringement of EU law attributable to a supreme court of that Member State. It can also be held accountable for wrongful acts of its organs or its officials when they act beyond

cases, the most important cases in terms of the impact of EU law on UK law. 5. The scope of the principle of national procedural autonomy, and its limits, are of great practical importance in respect of all claims based on EU law which are adjudicated by national courts. This matter is of even greater importance with regard to claims concerning Member State liability for damage caused to individuals, given that the principle of national procedural autonomy entails that a claim for reparation must be made in accordance with the domestic rules on liability. However, the principle of Member State liability has eroded the principle of procedural autonomy to the point where it requires a Member State to create a new remedy in damages, if an equivalent remedy does not exist under national law, to give effect to EU law.