European Union Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

European Union Law - Essay Example Section 2(2) of the ECA enables such legislations to be enacted locally in the U.K. This is the enabling provision to repeal domestic laws inconsistent with EC law.3 The Directive comes into force once the set time limit has expired. If the Directive’s provisions are directly effective, an individual can invoke the provisions of the directive before a national court if the time limit has expired and accident occurred after the expiry of the time limit for transposition. The Commission may also bring action under article 258 of TFEU against the Member State. It can also bring an action against the Member State during the period of transposition or before the expiry of the set deadline if it finds that Member State has not taken national measures as in the present case, which can compromise the result envisaged by the Directive. In the case of Directives, they should be transposed within the time specified by the Commission failing which actions could be taken against the Govern ment in the national as well as European Courts. Infarction proceedings before the European Court of Justice can be initiated by the Commission as provided for under Article 226 of the EC Treaty. The Commission can also invoke article 228 in case a member State fails to rectify the lapse even after Article 226 proceedings, which can impose a lump sum fine on the State or an ongoing fine on a daily basis until the breach of law is corrected4. Recently, Ireland lost a case in the European Court of Justice in April 2013 for having failed to transpose the Article 8 of EU Directive 2008/94. In this case of No 398/11 Commission v Ireland, the court has stated at para 48 â€Å"Individuals harmed have a right to reparation against a Member State† if three conditions are fulfilled: There must be an infringement of EU law conferring certain rights to the citizens; the infringement must be serious; and direct causal link between the lapse and the damage to the individuals must be establ ished 5 Liability of the State arises from Article 4 (3) of TFEU which the national courts must ensure in the event of rights conferred by EU law on individuals being denied. To constitute a state liability, there must be a breach of EU law, attributable to the Member State and it must have caused damage to individual(s) as mentioned in the Francovich principle which arose out of Francovich case (1991)6 resulting from violation of the EU Directive which the Member State failed to transpose. Failure to implement can be total or partial. The Government is responsible for violation by different departments and also for the acts or omissions of public bodies who have been delegated with the responsibilities of performance. In Dillenkoffer and others v Federal Republic of Germany (1996)7, the failure to transpose within the time limit itself was held to be a serious violation. Thus, if an individual has interest safeguarded by the directive, state is held responsible for damages incurred by an individual caused directly as result of failure to transpose. This is especially relevant in cases of directives on health and safety at work, equal treatment of women etc.8