Over the last two decades public law liability for breach of European Union law has been subject to remarkable developments. This book examines the convergence between its two constituent systems: the damages liability of the EU and that of its Member States for failing to comply with EU rules. Member State liability, based as it is on the Francovich case (1991) and Brasserie du Pêcheur and Factortame (1996) judgments of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is well established. But it is yet to be closely scrutinised by reference to the detailed rules on the liability of the European Union.

The focus of the book is on the two key legal criteria that are common to both systems, namely the grant of rights to individuals by EU law and the notion of sufficiently serious breach of such rights. The analysis concentrates on developments in the case law of the ECJ and the General Court since the Bergaderm judgment (2000), which consolidated the convergence of the two liability systems that was first indicated in Brasserie du Pêcheur and Factortame. These two criteria are set side by side to evaluate the extent, in real terms, of the convergence of Member State and EU institutional damages liability, and to determine the extent to which one has influenced the other.

This book shows that although full convergence between the two liability systems is not likely, each stream of case law should look to the other more actively as this important element of EU remedial law develops. Convergence in EU law public liability is supported by developments in adjacent areas, most notably European tort law and European administrative law. This study also illustrates how convergence in the EU liability systems to date has had spill-over effects into national public liability law.

Auteur

Pekka Aalto is a Legal Secretary to Advocate General Niilo Jääskinen at the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Contenu

1 Introduction
I . EU Public Liability Law and its Convergence
II . Research Issues
III . Structure and Terminology
2 Parameters of Convergence
I . Convergence and Divergence in European Public Liability Law
II . onvergence Approach and General Methodological Issues
III . Criteria for Assessing the Case-law
I V. Structural Aspects for Comparing the Main Features of the Two Liability Systems
V. Introduction to 'Rights'
VI. Introduction to 'Breach' and 'Fault'
3 Contexts of Convergence
I . Constitutional Context of EU Public Liability
II . Public Liability in National Law
III . Other Public Liability Systems
I V. Private Liability for Breaches of EU Law
V. European Convergence of Private Law Liability
VI. European Convergence of Administrative Law
4 Alignment of the Two Liability Systems
I . The Liability Systems in their 'Original' Setup
II . T he 'New' Bergaderm Conditions
III . Arguments Advanced for Convergence of the Two Liability
I V. Nature of Convergence of the Two Public Liability Systems
5 Liability of the European Union
I . Structural Aspects
II . Granting of Rights to Individuals: Liability of the European Union and EU Law Rights Breach of which May Give Rise to Liability
III . Sufficiently Serious Breach: Liability of the European Union and Assessment of Seriousness of Breach in Case-law
I V. Successful Cases
6 Liability of the Member States
I . Structural Aspects
II . Granting of Rights to Individuals: Liability of the Member States and EU Law Rights Breach of Which May Give Rise to Liability
III . Sufficiently Serious Breach: Liability of the Member States and Assessment of Seriousness of Breach in Case-law
I V. Application in Practice and Successful Damages Cases
7 Conclusions
I . Main Aspects of the Two Liability Systems
II . Convergence Regarding 'Granting of Rights to Individuals'
III . Convergence Regarding 'Sufficiently Serious Breach'
I V. Essential Findings on Convergence
V. Outlook Beyond Convergence