§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason no fines have been imposed under Article 228(2) of the Amsterdam Treaty; and what representations he has made calling for such fines be imposed. [119811]
§ Mr. VazArticle 228(2) applies if a member state fails to respond to a Court judgment. The vast majority of cases is settled well before this stage. Over the last three years, the Annual Report on monitoring the application of Community law records that the Commission has referred 14 cases to the European Court of Justice for a second time, recommending fines in each case. The fact that no penalties have yet been imposed by the Court does not indicate that the system is not working. On the contrary, it shows that member states have responded to the possibility of a fine by rapidly coming into line with EC law, either before the case is referred to the ECJ for a second time or shortly afterwards.