EUR-Charts

The box in the 4th row at the right hand side must read:

Sufficiently serious breach

Factors to be taken into account include:
• The clarity and precision of the rule breached;
• The measure of discretion left by the rule to the authorities;
• Whether the infringement and the damage caused was intentional or involuntary;
• Whether any error of law was excusable or inexcusable;
• The fact that the position taken by an EU institution may have contributed towards the omission, the adoption or retention of national measures or practices contrary to EU law.

A breach of EU law is certainly sufficiently serious if it has persisted despite a judgment finding the infringement, or a preliminary ruling or settled case-law from which it is clear that the conduct constitutes an infringement.

Brasserie du Pêcheur (1996), Köbler (2003)