§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
What sanctions exist if European Union member states refuse or fail to pay fines levied under Articles 226–229 of the treaty establishing the European Community. [HL329]
§ Baroness AmosArticle 228 (2) provides that the Commission shall refer to the Court of Justice any case where it considers that a member state has failed to take measures necessary to comply with a judgment of the Court of Justice. In making such a referral the Commission shall specify the lump sum or penalty to be paid. This would equally apply where the failure involved a failure to pay the fines set down in the judgment with which the member state had failed to comply.
The appropriate sanction would therefore be a second referral for failure to comply with a judgment (being the third referral in total, the first referral having been for failure to comply with the original judgment that the member state had failed to fulfil an obligation under the treaty).
In practice only one member state, Greece, has been fined. Non-payment under Article 228 has not been a problem so far.
§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
What penalties, apart from fines, could be applied to member states under Article 229 of the treaty establishing the European Community. [HL330]
§ Baroness AmosArticle 229 does not provide for alternative penalties to be imposed. It confers upon the European Court of Justice jurisdiction to rule on penalties which are imposed under regulations28WA adopted by the Council or by the Council and Parliament, i.e. to raise or lower fines so imposed.