The Commission of the European Union yesterday [Wednesday] sent a letter of formal notice to France identifying France’s infringement of the European Court of Justice judgement which declared France’s refusal to end the ban on British beef as unlawful.
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Under the EU-Treaty (Article 228(1)) a Member State is obliged to implement a judgment of the European Court of Justice, and France has thus far failed to comply with the ECJ’s 13 December 2001 judgement. France was to implement EU legislation and to create the legal conditions to allow the resumption of imports of British beef to France, but up to now no measure implementing the Court judgment has been communicated to the European Commission, triggering today’s letter.
France is expected to submit its observations regarding the letter within 30 days. If no-compliance continues, a reasoned opinion will be sent to France. If this fails to elicit compliance, the Commission may apply to the Court of Justice to impose a fine. The Court is free to decide the level of the fine and is not bound by any amount suggested by the Commission.
