R v Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, ex p Hedley Lomas (Ireland) Ltd
Where a Member State has little or no discretion, the mere infringement of EU law may be enough to amount to a sufficiently serious breach.
Facts
The United Kingdom refused to issue export licences for live sheep to be exported to Spain for slaughter, because it believed that Spanish slaughterhouses did not comply with an EU directive on the stunning of animals before slaughter. It had no concrete evidence that the particular slaughterhouse concerned did not comply. Hedley Lomas, which was refused a licence, claimed damages.
Legal principle
The Court of Justice held that the refusal was a breach of the Treaty rules on free movement of goods, because the directive had harmonised the relevant rules, and a Member State could not rely on its own unilateral measures where harmonisation had been achieved. Where, at the time when it committed the infringement, the Member State was not called upon to make any legislative choices and had only considerably reduced, or even no, discretion, the mere infringement of EU law may be sufficient to establish the existence of a sufficiently serious breach.
Related cases on indirect effect and state liability
- Adeneler v Ellinikos Organismos Galaktos (ELOG) Case C-212/04, [2006] ECR I-6057
- Brasserie du Pêcheur SA v Germany; R v Secretary of State for Transport, ex p Factortame Ltd (No 3) Joined Cases C-46/93 and C-48/93, [1996] ECR I-1029
- Dillenkofer v Germany Joined Cases C-178/94, C-179/94 and C-188/94 to C-190/94, [1996] ECR I-4845
- Duke v GEC Reliance Ltd [1988] AC 618
- Francovich and Bonifaci v Italy Joined Cases C-6/90 and C-9/90, [1991] ECR I-5357
- Köbler v Austria Case C-224/01, [2003] ECR I-10239
- Litster v Forth Dry Dock & Engineering Co Ltd [1990] 1 AC 546
- Marleasing SA v La Comercial Internacional de Alimentación SA Case C-106/89, [1990] ECR I-4135
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