Every year, the European Commission publishes an annual report on monitoring the application of EU law during the preceding year. The report reviews key aspects of the application of EU law by Member States and the European Commission’s actions to enforce it in 2021. This webpage presents infringement cases by policy area and Member State, over a five-year period.
Infringements
New infringement cases 2017 - 2021
In 2021, the Commission opened 847 new infringement cases. This is an decrease compared to year 2020, when the Commission opened 903 new cases.
By clicking on this interactive multi-level chart, you can consult the distribution of the new infringement cases in 2021 per policy area and per type of infringement.
Infringement cases open at year-end 2017 - 2021
At the end of 2021, 1 930 infringement cases remained open. This is an increase compared to year 2020, when 1 786 cases remained open.
By clicking on the above multi-level chart you can consult the number of infringement cases open at the end of 2021 per policy area and per type of infringement.
Infringement cases 2017 - 2021
The above chart shows the number of cases that were new, closed or remained open at year-end for the period 2017-2021.
New late transposition cases 2017 - 2021
In 2021, the Commission opened 571 new late transposition cases for Member States’ failure to timely transpose directives. This is a decrease compared to year 2020, when the Commission opened 599 new late transposition cases.
By clicking on this interactive multi-level chart, you can consult the distribution of the new late transposition cases in 2021 per policy area and per sector within that policy area.
Type of infringement per Member State at year-end
The above graph shows the repartition of open infringement cases at year-end against individual Member States based on the type of infringement.It also includes information concerning the United Kingdom.
EU Pilot
New EU Pilot cases 2017 - 2021
In 2021, the Commission opened 246 new EU Pilot cases. This is an increase compared to year 2020, when the Commission opened 212 new EU Pilot cases.
By clicking on this interactive multi-level chart, you can consult the distribution of the new EU Pilot cases in 2021 per policy area and per policy sector.
EU Pilot cases 2017 – 2021
The above chart shows the number of EU Pilot cases that were new, handled or remained open at year-end for the period 2017-2021.
Complaints
New complaints
In 2021, the Commission registered 4 276 new complaints about alleged or potential breaches of EU law. This is an increase compared to year 2020, when the Commission registered 3 727 new complaints.
By clicking on this interactive multi-level chart, you can consult the distribution of the new complaints in 2021 per policy area and per policy sector.
Complaints 2017 – 2021
The above chart shows the number of complaints registered, handled or remaining open at year-end for the period 2017-2021.
Overview of enforcement activity
The above chart shows the average time in weeks needed before taking a decision to close complaints, EU Pilot cases and infringement cases. Certain EU Pilot cases or complaints are potentially counted more than once (e.g. if an initial complaint is transferred to an EU Pilot or infringement case).
For more explanations on the statistical data and methodology, please refer to the Commission staff working document to - general statistical overview 2021 (section IV. Methodology and explanations).
More information on infringement cases by policy area
Member States
On 1 February 2020, the Withdrawal Agreement setting out arrangements for the orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union entered into force and the United Kingdom became formally a third country. The transition period set by the Withdrawal Agreement ended on 31 December 2020. In accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the Commission may continue to pursue existing infringement cases and open new cases against the UK for infringements of EU law that occurred before the end of the transition period, or for breaches of certain provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement or of the Protocols on Ireland and Northern Ireland and on the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus. Therefore, cases concerning the United Kingdom are included in the overall statistics of this report.
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