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Justice and Consumers 2023

2023 Annual Report on monitoring the application of EU law - Infringement cases by policy area

Infringement cases open at year-end 2019 - 2023

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By clicking on the multi-level chart, you can consult, for 2023, the number of infringement cases open at the year-end per policy sector and per type of infringement.

Compliance promotion activities in 2023

Guidelines on how to implement EU law

  • On 6 December 2023, the Commission adopted the Guidance on the right of free movement of EU citizens and their families. The new guidance provides legal and practical interpretation and examples on key free movement rights’ questions. 
  • On 17 November 2023, the Commission published the Commission Notice Handbook on how to issue and execute a European Arrest Warrant (update of the 2017 Handbook). Aimed at European legal practitioners, the handbook sums up the vast experience gained over more than 20 years of using the European arrest warrant in the European Union. It also provides a series of tips and recommendations to help legal practitioners when they issue or execute European arrest warrants and it helps them through every step of the surrender procedure. This revised 2023 version also reflects the rapidly evolving case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the European arrest warrant and the changes to the Schengen Information System.

Meetings with Member States

  • The Commission continued to make use of its Expert Group on the Whistleblower Protection Directive to promote an effective and uniform transposition and implementation of the Directive (EU) 2019/1937 by sharing experience and good practices.
  • The Digitalisation Regulation entered into force on 16 January 2024. It was accompanied by the establishment of the Digitalisation of judicial cooperation committee. Preparatory work of the committee already started in 2023 in view of the timeline for adoption of the implementing acts agreed by the co-legislators.
  • The Expert Group on the right to free movement of persons (Directive 2004/38/EC) met twice in 2023 to discuss issues related to the application of the Directive on the right to free movement of persons as well as residence rights in Part Two of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.
  • The Commission continued to make use of its Expert Group on the European Arrest Warrant to promote good implementation of the Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States.
  • The Commission also established and convened the first meeting of the Informal Commission expert group on the e-evidence decentralised IT systems. This will allow the Commission to gather expertise and views of EU Member States’ authorities, service providers, industry associations and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute on the technical specifications, objectives, measures and requirements for the establishment of the IT system foreseen in the e-Evidence Regulation.
  • In November 2023, the Commission held a meeting with Member States on Directive 2022/2381 on improving the gender balance among directors of companies listed on stock exchanges to assist them in transposing the Directive into national law by December 2024.
  • The Commission holds regular discussions with Member States on the implementation of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and transposition of the Data Protection Law Enforcement Directive. The Commission held a meeting with the Member States expert group on 19 April 2023 on the Commission initiative to streamline cooperation between national data protection authorities when enforcing the GDPR in cross-border cases. National data protection authorities monitor and supervise the application of the data protection rules in the Member States and exercise their powers independently. In 2023, bilateral meetings were held with Irish and Slovenian authorities to discuss shortcomings in their national data protection law implementing the GDPR.

Other compliance promotion tools

  • In the area of data protection, the Commission Multistakeholder expert group to support the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) held a meeting on 21 April 2023 to discuss the Commission’s initiative on procedural aspects of the GDPR. In addition, the expert group held another meeting on 27 October 2023 where the discussions focused on the preparations of the Commission’s 2024 report on the application of the GDPR. Prior to that meeting, the Commission had sent a questionnaire to the members of the expert group to gather their feedback on their experiences with the application of the Regulation.
  • Throughout the year, the Commission contributed to the work of the European Data Protection Board (representatives of national data protection authorities), including the preparation of guidelines aimed at stakeholders.
  • In the area of procedural rights for suspects and accused persons, the Commission published on 2 February 2023 the Commission’s Report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of Directive (EU) 2016/1919 on legal aid for suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings and for requested persons in European arrest warrant proceedings. The report focuses on the measures Member States have taken so far to transpose the Directive. It assesses whether Member States have fully and correctly transposed the Directive and whether national legislation achieves the Directive’s objectives and fulfils its requirements.

Follow-up given to petitions

In 2023, the Commission received 110 petitions in the areas of justice and consumers. The Commission transmitted a reply to the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament in 56 files in these areas.

Many of these petitions concerned the rule of law in various Member States, consumer rights, discrimination, violence against women and data protection.

The Commission pursued investigations on alleged breaches of EU law raised in one case about investor citizenship (Petition 0688/2022): the Commission found that the petition seemed to be raising a breach of EU law. The Commission considers investor citizenship schemes run by any Member State, which grants EU citizenship in return for investments or pre-determined payments without any genuine links to the Member State, a breach of EU Law. The Commission has launched an infringement procedure against Cyprus, which subsequently has repealed the scheme. The Commission further monitored the situation regarding the alleged breaches of the following petitions on:

The Commission assessed new national legislation or further monitored the situation regarding the alleged breaches of the following petitions after the Member States concerned had amended their national legislation:

  • European election rules for non-citizens in Luxembourg (Petition 0473/2019);
  • Alleged child abduction in Slovakia (Petition 1285/2013);
  • The right of workers to care for dependants with health issues in Spain (Petition 1092/2022);
  • Alleged discriminatory practice of the Italian State in relation to the issue and renewal of the passport of the Italian parent (Petition 0610/2018);
  • Reform of the Italian insolvency law and on the implementation of the EU rules (Petition 0368/2021).

The following petitions raised question part of an ongoing review of national legislation:

Regarding all other cases, the Commission considered that:

  • the matter did not fall within the scope of EU law or fell within the competence of national authorities (26 cases);
  • there was no breach of EU law (7 cases);
  • no further action was needed (2 cases);
  • the case could be closed by outlining the applicable rules (2 cases).

Court of Justice rulings against Member States

  • Commission v. Poland (Indépendance et vie privée des juges), C-204/21;
  • Commission v. Slovakia (Droit de résiliation sans frais), C-540/21.

Important preliminary rulings

  • Ligue des droits humains (Vérification du traitement des données par l’autorité de contrôle), C-333/22;
  • Ministerstvo na vatreshnite raboti (Enregistrement de données biométriques et génétiques par la police), C-205/21;
  • HYA and Others (Motivation des autorisations des écoutes téléphoniques), C-349/21;  
  • Politseyski organ pri 02 RU SDVR, C-608/21; 
  • Rayonna prokuratura Lovech, TO Lukovit (Fouille corporelle), C-209/22; 
  • VB (Information du condamné par défaut), Joined cases C‑430/22 and C‑468/22; 
  • Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet (Perte de la nationalité danoise), C-689/21; 
  • D.C. (Right of withdrawal for off-premises contracts and consumer’s obligation to pay for performance), C‑97/22; 
  • LACD GmbH (The concept of ‘commercial guarantee’), C‑133/22;
  • Sofatutor GmbH (Consumer’s right of withdrawal from an automatic extension of the contract), C‑565/22; 
  • BMW Bank GmbH, C. Bank AG, Volkswagen Bank GmbH, Audi Bank (Loan agreement with a bank for the purchase of a second-hand motor vehicle for private use – Consumers’ right of withdrawal), Joined cases C-38/21, C-47/21 and C-232/21;
  • FTI Touristik (Voyage à forfait aux Îles Canaries), C-396/21; 
  • Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport, C-646/20;
  • Deutsche Wohnen, C-807/21;  
  • Meta Platforms and Others (Conditions générales d’utilisation d’un réseau social), C-252/21;  
  • X-FAB Dresden, C-453/21; 
  • KISA, C-560/21; 
  • FT (Copies du dossier médical), C-307/22;  
  • SCHUFA Holding (Libération de reliquat de dette), Joined cases C-26/22, C-64/22;
  • SCHUFA Holding (Scoring), C-634/21; 
  • Chief Appeals Officer and Others, C-488/21; 
  • TGSS (Refus du complément de maternité), C-113/22; 
  • Juan, C-164/22;
  • Puig Gordi and Others, C-158/21;  
  • UFC - Que choisir and CLCV, C-407/21; 
  • K.B. and F.S. (Relevé d’office dans le domaine pénal), C-660/21; 
  • Volkswagen Group Italia and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, C-27/22; 
  • GN (Motif de refus fondé sur l’intérêt supérieur de l’enfant)  C-261/22; 
  • E. D. L. (Motif de refus fondé sur la maladie), C-699/21; 
  • O. G. (Mandat d’arrêt européen à l’encontre d’un ressortissant d’un État tiers), C-700/21; 
  • D.V. (Honoraires d’avocat - Principe du tarif horaire), C-395/21;
  • R.J.R. v. Registrų centras, C-354/21;
  • Budapesti Elektromos Művek, C-132/21; 
  • Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid (Mère thaïlandaise d’un enfant mineur néerlandais), C-459/20; 
  • G.K. and Others (Parquet européen), C-281/22; 
  • Österreichische Post (Informations relatives aux destinataires de données personnelles), C-154/21; 
  • Österreichische Post (Préjudice moral lié au traitement de données personnelles), C-300/21;  
  • Österreichische Datenschutzbehörde, C-487/21;  
  • Bank M. (Conséquences de l’annulation du contrat), C-520/21;
  • Getin Noble Bank (Suspension de l’exécution d’un contrat de crédit), C-287/22;
  • Dyrektor Izby Administracji Skarbowej w Bydgoszczy (Acquisitions intracommunautaires de gazole), C-855/19; 
  • mBank (Registre polonais des clauses illicites), C-139/22; 
  • Pankki S, C-579/21; 
  • Norra Stockholm Bygg, C-268/21.  
  • Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa (Maintien en fonctions d’un juge), C-718/21.  

Outlook for 2024

In 2024, the Commission will continue important enforcement work in the area of justice and consumers. In particular, the Commission plans to:

  • Finalise the assessment of the completeness and correctness of the national measures transposing the Whistleblower Protection Directive. On this basis, the Commission will submit, by the third quarter of 2024, its report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation and application of this Directive. Moreover, the Commission will pursue the enforcement work and open infringement proceedings against those Member States failing to correctly transpose the Directive.
  • Finalise the compliance assessment of the Second Shareholder Rights Directive for both transposition deadlines and follow-up on open infringement procedures. New infringement procedures will be launched if necessary to ensure full and correct transposition, including based on complaints received.
  • Monitor the implementation of and check the compliance of national legislation with the Company Law Digitalisation Directive and the Company Law Cross-Border Mobility Directive.
  • Continue assessing, and enforcing where necessary, the compliance of national legislation with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Law Enforcement Directive (LED) and mainstreaming data protection rules into key EU sectorial policies, such as Data Strategy initiatives including common European data spaces, AI, cybersecurity, health, financial services, employment and law enforcement. The Commission will also publish the second report on the evaluation and review of the GDPR.
  • Continue facilitating negotiations on the Proposal for a Regulation laying down additional procedural rules relating to the enforcement of the GDPR in cross-border cases, adopted in July 2023. The proposal aims to support the efficient and effective enforcement of the GDPR by national data protection authorities in cross-border cases.
  • Conduct compliance assessments of national data protection laws in the context of the annual Schengen evaluations, along with the evaluation of the overall compliance with data protection requirements of the Schengen acquis.
  • Monitor the implementation of the Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant.
  • Continue monitoring the compliance of measures transposing the EU Procedural Rights Directives, and opening infringement proceedings where necessary. In particular, in 2024 the Commission will submit to the European Parliament and Council its report on the implementation and application of the Directive on procedural safeguards for children.
  • Continue the monitoring of the substantial compliance of national transposition measures with the Directive on Work-Life Balance and will open infringement procedures on non-conformity when necessary.
  • Organise a meeting with Member States on the implementation of the Directive to strengthen the application of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms.
  • Continue monitoring the implementation of the Directive on the fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law (PIF Directive).