EU infringement proceedings 2024: Greece's referrals to the CJEU

In 2024 the European Commission decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union in 5 cases concerning: i) failure to complete the revision of river basin management plans and flood risk management plans; ii) failure to correctly apply the rules on late payments; iii) failure to correctly transpose the rules on proportionality of the regulations on the legal protection of professions; iv) failure to adequately collect and treat urban waste water; and v) failure to comply with the legislation on

Each Member State of the European Union must fully apply EU law. The body responsible for identifying possible violations of EU law is the European Commission. Where a Member State does not apply EU law and breaches its obligations under the EU Treaties, the European Commission may open a formal infringement procedure under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU (see details on the infringement procedure here).

During 2024, the European Commission took a number of actions to open, close or progress infringement cases against Greece. All of the Commission’s decisions can be found on its website. Studying these, we found five cases in which the Commission decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union:

1. As mentioned in the “March infringements package” and the press release of 13-3-2024, the European Commission decided to refer Greece to the CJEU for failing to complete the review of river basin management plans as required under the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC) and flood risk management plans as required by the Floods Directive (Directive 2007/60/EC) [INFR(2022)2191]. Information on the case before the CJEU (Commission v Greece, C-359/24) can be found on the Court’s website.
2. As mentioned in the “April infringements package” and the press release of 24-4-2024, the European Commission decided to refer Greece to the CJEU for not correctly applying the rules of the Late Payments Directive (Directive 2011/7/EU), as it considered that the practices of public hospitals regarding payments to their suppliers violate the aforementioned Directive [INFR(2023)2027].
3. As stated in the “May infringements bundle” and the press release of 23-5-2024, the European Commission has decided to refer Greece to the CJEU for failing to correctly transpose the proportionality test directive (Directive (EU) 2018/958) into its national law, as it considered that the country: (a) did not ensure that all measures covered by the Directive are subject to an ex ante proportionality assessment; and (b) did not ensure continuous monitoring of the rules adopted [INFR(2021)2200]. Information on the case before the CJEU (Commission v Greece, C-518/24) can be found on the Court’s website.

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4. As mentioned in “July infringements package”, the European Commission decided in two cases to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union:

a) for failure to fully comply with the collection and treatment obligations laid down in Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban waste water treatment [INFR(2020)2021]. For more information on the case, please consult the press release of 25-7-2024 and the case before the CJEU (Commission v Greece, C841/24) on the Court’s website.
b) for non-compliance of national rules with EU legislation on the recognition of professional qualifications, as it found that the procedures provided for in Greek legislation for professionals who have obtained school principal qualifications in other Member States, as well as for other similar educational managers, do not comply with Directive 2005/36/EC and Article 45 TFEU [INFR(2022)4078]. Information on the procedure under review can be found in the press release of 25-7-2024.

Where is the problem with the rule of law?

The application of EU law is an obligation of the Member States of the European Union.

If possible violations of EU law are identified, the European Commission can take a series of actions against the Member State concerned to ensure that EU law is correctly and fully applied.

During 2024, in the framework of an infringement procedure, the European Commission decided in five cases, which concerned environment and internal market related issues, to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Christiana Stilianidou

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EU infringement proceedings 2024: Greece’s referrals to the CJEU

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