ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the research conducted in this book. It demonstrates the overall impact of EU general principles of law and fundamental rights on national fining legislation and national fining proceedings. It lists the links that force national administrative authorities to apply EU law. It also determines which general principles or fundamental rights apply only to fines of a criminal character and reminds that the optimal criterion for establishing this character is the concept of an administrative surplus. It also calls for the reinterpretation of the Kolpinghuis Nijmegen formula. This chapter also discusses the working of the Simmenthal rule in fining proceedings as well as the various modes of re-opening of national proceedings under the formulas created by the European Court of Justice. This chapter covers the practical effects of the general principles and fundamental rights analyzed in this book, with the principle of proportionality offering the greatest potential for securing the rights of an individual who has been fined. It also discusses the evolving nature of the general principles of EU law and EU fundamental rights as well as the overlapping nature of some principles.
