EU infringements and consequent fines: for theItaly we are at 80, a not exactly negligible number, but still considered "physiological" These are the latest available data, which take into account the decisions taken by the European Commission on 28 April last, and communicated in the Senate floor by the rapporteur on the 2015 European law and on the obligations of Italy's membership of the EU.
Of these 80 proceedings, 62 are for infringement of EU law and 18 for failure to transpose directives. "This is an exceptional result, the result of targeted and effective work that has brought the number to a level that can be defined as physiological, comparable to that of the other Member States", remarked the rapporteur, Senator pd Roberto Cociancich.
Infringement procedures are divided into one first stage (pursuant to article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), which concludes with a sentence of the Court of Justice which ascertains the violation and imposes the necessary regulatory modification and the payment of legal costs.
In case of non-compliance with this sentence, one can be opened second stage, which ends with a further conviction, this time involving the payment of fines. Sanctions are of two types: 1) the lump sum, which aims to punish the non-compliance as such, 2) and the periodic penalty payment, which has the purpose of soliciting the cessation of the infringement in the shortest possible time.
The two sanctions can be imposed cumulatively in cases where the violation of EU law is particularly serious and persistent. Indicatively, for Italy the minimum lump sum is 8.916.000 euros, while the periodic penalty varies between a minimum of 10.753,50 euros and a maximum of 645.210 euros for each day of delay in the execution of the sentence, depending on the seriousness of the infringement
