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A Practical Guide to the Infringement Procedure: How to Respond to Commission Investigations and Avoid Court Cases
Make your national administration a winner in EU infringement procedures: respond persuasively to Commission allegations, avoid the risk of a court case, a condemnatory ruling and potential financial sanctions for your national administration.
This highly practical course will provide you with a sophisticated understanding of the infringement procedure (Articles 258 to 260 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) – the main enforcement mechanism enacted by the Commission against a Member State in case of a presumed breach of its obligations under EU law.
What will you learn:
This course will offer you a professional insight into the infringement procedure, analysing in detail the role of the Commission and the position of the Member States.
Hence you will be able to understand and distinguish the capacities and prerogatives of both actors, determining the different respective administrative and procedural strategies, which they can resort to throughout the procedure.
If you are a national official, the course will equip you with the right methodology to improve the capacity and quality of your national administration responses to Commission investigations on alleged infringements.
In the potential scenario of the initiation of the jurisdictional phase of the procedure, the course will also help you to select the right defence strategy to improve your state’s position during the litigation.
In case of a final condemnatory ruling after the procedure, this course will show you tips on how to comply with the judicial decision as swiftly as possible and hence avoid a new procedure, under Article 260 TFEU.
Course methodology/highlights:
The course will be conducted by EIPA legal experts of proven knowledge on infringement matters who will discuss key topics, illustrated with examples and cases from litigation practice.
All sessions will be followed by periods of Q & A for the exchange of ideas, and discussions where participants will have the opportunity to share professional experiences.
The various group exercises, workshops and discussions featured in the course will promote a high level of interactivity and provide enhanced learning opportunities.
By participating in this course, you will learn the practical insights of the procedure. You will also acquire the professional skills required to give persuasive answers to the inquiries of the Commission, to voluntarily remedy the alleged infringement and avoid a potential court case against your state and, ultimately, a condemnatory ruling and potential financial sanction.
Prior to the course, you will be given access to the course materials on our digital learning platform. These course materials will consist of relevant legal texts, key decisions of the CJEU, Commission’s communications, PP slide shows, etc.
- Public sector employees, in charge of or involved in the transposition of EU law and state officials and legal counsellors answering / preparing the defences of the state in all stages of the infringement procedure, irrespective of the level of government or origin of the case (i.e. national, regional and local level).
- State agents acting before the CJEU and pleading on behalf of their states in infringement proceedings.
- Private practicing lawyers, consultants and other interested actors from the private sector, who wish to update their knowledge on the infringement procedure and obtain a comprehensive overview.
Course venue
European Centre for Judges and Lawyers – EIPA Luxembourg
8 rue Nicolas Adames
1114 Luxembourg
Programme Organiser
Mr Naoise Crowley
Tel: +352 426 230 306
n.crowley@eipa.eu
Fee
The fee includes documentation, refreshments and lunches. Accommodation and travel costs are at the expense of the participants or their administration.
EIPA member fee
EIPA offers a discount to all civil servants working for one of EIPA’s supporting countries, and civil servants working for an EU institution, body or agency.
Who are the supporting countries?
Civil servants coming from the following EIPA supporting countries are entitled to get the reduced fee: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden.
For all other participants, the regular fee applies.
Early bird discount
The early bird discount is not cumulative with other discounts or promo codes, except for the EIPA member fee.
Loyalty coupon
As a token of appreciation we offer all our participants a loyalty coupon for one of our future courses. The offer can be shared with colleagues and relevant networks. The coupon will expire one year after its release. This discount is not cumulative with other discounts, except for the EIPA member fee.
Meals
Dietary preferences can be indicated on the registration form.
Hotel reservations
EIPA has special price arrangements with a number of hotels. Most rates are including breakfast and tourist tax. Should you wish to make use of this possibility, please book directly via the links below. Payment is to be made directly and personally to the hotel upon checking out.
Kirchberg
- Hotel Melia*****, at the rate of €219, via tel.: +352 27 33 32 06 or via e-mail: melia.luxembourg@melia.com (booking code: 01350007ZKC)
- Hotel Novotel Kirchberg****, at the rate of €190, tel.: +352 429848-1; booking page: accorhotels.com (Company ID: SC000002048 – Access Code: IN281LU654).
- Hotel D’Coque***, via https://www.coque.lu/coque-hotel-superior/online-booking, tel.: +352 43 60 60 222
Luxembourg Centre
- Hotel Français***, at the rate of €150, tel.: +352 47 45 34; e-mail: info@hotelfrancais.lu; https://www.hotelfrancais.lu/ (Reservation code: EIPA).
- Hotel Parc Plaza****, at the rate of €168, (Reservation code: EIPA0118): https://www.goereshotels.com/parc-plaza-en
- Hotel Parc Bellevue***, at the rate of €137, (Reservation code: EIPA0118): https://www.goereshotels.com/belle-vue-en: +352 44 23 23 23 23; e-mail: reservation@goereshotels.com;
- Hotel Domus***, at the rate of between €144 and €156, tel.: +352 46 78 78 1; fax: +352 46 78 79; e-mail: info@domus.lu; https://www.domus.lu/(Reservation code: EIPA) – breakfast not included
- Hotel Simoncini****, at the rate of €180, tel.: +352 22 28 44; e-mail: simhotel@pt.lu or simoncinihotel@pt.lu; https://www.hotelsimoncini.lu/.
Railway Station Area
- Hotel City****, at the rate of €165, tel.: +352 29 11 22; e-mail: mail@cityhotel.lu; cityhotel.lu (Reservation code: EIPA).
Confirmation
Confirmation of registration will be forwarded to participants on receipt of the completed online registration form.
Payment
Prior payment is a condition for participation.
Cancellation policy
For administrative reasons you will be charged €150 for cancellations received within 15 days before the activity begins. There is no charge for qualified substitute participants. EIPA reserves the right to cancel the activity up to 2 weeks before the starting date. In that case, registration fees received will be fully reimbursed. EIPA accepts no responsibility for any costs incurred (travel, accommodation, etc.).
A few days before the start of the course you will receive the log-in details for accessing the course materials. You can log in here.
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Programme
| 09.00 | Registration of participants |
| 09.30 | Welcome and introduction to the course Juan Diego Ramírez-Cárdenas Díaz, Senior Lecturer, European Centre for Judges and Lawyers, EIPA Luxembourg |
| 09.45 | The infringement procedure – a commented introduction
Juan Diego Ramírez-Cárdenas Díaz |
| 10.30 | Q & A Session |
| 10.45 | Break |
| 11.15 | Dealing with the Commission during the pre-litigation phase (1) Investigation phase by the Commission
Letter of formal notice:
Juan Diego Ramírez-Cárdenas Díaz |
| 11.45 | Q & A Session |
| 12.00 | Dealing with the Commission during the pre-litigation phase (2) Reasoned opinion
Juan Diego Ramírez-Cárdenas Díaz |
| 12.30 | Lunch break |
| 14.00 | The litigation phase: practical guide on the procedure before the Court
Juan Diego Ramírez-Cárdenas Díaz |
| 15.00 | Q & A Session |
| 15.15 | Summary of main contents of 1st day |
| 15.30 | End of first day |
| 09.00 | Introduction to the second day |
| 09.15 | Workshop: Possible defences of the Member States In an interactive way, participants will have the possibility to analyse different potential defences Member States may resort to and to compare with the Court of Justice’s reaction to those defences.
Juan Diego Ramírez-Cárdenas Díaz, Panagiotis Zinonos, Lecturer, EIPA Luxembourg – European Centre for Judges and Lawyers |
| 10.00 | Break |
| 10.30 | The decision of the Court and its effects
Panagiotis Zinonos |
| 11.00 | Q&A Session |
| 11.15 | Sanctions for failure to comply with the judgment
Panagiotis Zinonos |
| 12.15 | Q & A Session |
| 12.30 | Lunch Break |
| 14.00 | Practical exercise: the infringement procedure in 10 case studies In this session, participants will have the opportunity to work with different case studies that deal with all phases of the procedure presented during the online workshop and to analyse the Court of Justice’s decision in each case. Juan Diego Ramírez-Cárdenas Díaz |
| 15.15 | Conclusions and evaluation |
| 15.30 | End of the course |