ABSTRACT
As seen above, Article 10 imposes an obligation on Member States to facilitate and not to impede the objectives of the Community. Where a Member State has failed to undertake its duty, the concept of state liability arises. In Francovich and Bonifaci v Italy (1991), employees were seeking compensation against Italy for failure to implement a directive which was designed to guarantee the payment of arrears of wages to employees in the event of their employer’s insolvency. The time limit set down by the Community for implementation of the directive had expired and, as a result, Italy was held to be in breach of its Community obligations under Article 5 (now Article 10).21
