Lock, Tobias (2012) Is Private Enforcement of EU Law through State Liability a myth? An assessment 20 years after Francovich. Common Market Law Review, 49 (5). pp. 1675-1702. ISSN 0165-0750

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Abstract

This article assesses the success of Member State liability as a tool for the private enforcement of European Union law. The argument made is that Member State liability, first established 20 years ago in the Francovich case, is not a suitable and reliable mechanism to compensate for the weaknesses of public enforcement. The argument is based on statistical findings concerning the case law on Member State liability in two key Member State jurisdictions, England and Germany. The findings reveal that surprisingly little litigation has taken place so far and that only a handful of cases were litigated successfully. This leads the author to conclude that Member State liability has not been successful as a mechanism for the enforcement of EU law. The article continues by analysing why most of the proceedings initiated remain unsuccessful. It is shown that the criteria for the remedy are very difficult to satisfy and that there is reluctance on the part of national courts to award damages for the failure of Member States to comply with EU law. Against this background it is suggested that State liability under EU law should be chiefly regarded as a means of individual compensation rather than a tool for the private enforcement of EU law

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Private enforcement; EU Law; State Liability; Francovich;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Law
Item ID:	11837
Depositing User:	Tobias Lock
Date Deposited:	22 Nov 2019 16:40
Journal or Publication Title:	Common Market Law Review
Publisher:	Kluwer Law International
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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