infringement procedure

noun · Vertragsverletzungsverfahren

Vertragsverletzungsverfahren, Art. 258 AEUV: the Commission’s action against a Member State for breaching a Treaty obligation. A pre-litigation stage, a letter of formal notice then a reasoned opinion, precedes a referral to the Court of Justice. The infringement here is a State’s breach of Union law, not an intellectual-property infringement.

Which translation, when

zwei Stufenthe course: if the Commission considers that a Member State has failed to fulfil a Treaty obligation it sends a letter of formal notice, then a mit Gründen versehene Stellungnahme, a reasoned opinion with a deadline, Art. 258 AEUV; only if the State does not comply may the Commission bring the matter before the Court of Justice, which gives a declaratory judgment, Art. 260 Abs. 1 AEUV.

nicht Schutzrechtsverletzungthe trap: infringement here is a Vertragsverletzung, a Member State’s breach of Union law, so the procedure is the Vertragsverletzungsverfahren, not the intellectual-property Schutzrechtsverletzung and not a private breach of contract; rendering it as a bare Verletzungsverfahren points at the wrong body of law.

Sanktionen bei Nichtbefolgungthe teeth: if the State does not comply with the judgment, the Commission may return under Art. 260 Abs. 2 AEUV and the Court may impose a Pauschalbetrag, a lump sum, and a Zwangsgeld, a penalty payment; for failing to transpose a directive, penalties may be sought already in the first action, Art. 260 Abs. 3 AEUV.

Why

Infringement procedure is the Vertragsverletzungsverfahren, the route by which the Union enforces its law against a Member State, and the first thing a translation must fix is what infringement means here. It is a Vertragsverletzung, a State’s failure to fulfil an obligation under the Treaties or under secondary law, so the word has nothing to do with the intellectual-property infringement rendered elsewhere as Schutzrechtsverletzung, nor with a private breach of contract. The Commission, as guardian of the Treaties, runs a pre-litigation stage: a letter of formal notice giving the State a chance to respond, then a reasoned opinion, a mit Gründen versehene Stellungnahme, fixing a deadline to comply, Art. 258 AEUV. The Commission has a discretion whether to proceed. If the State does not comply, the Commission may bring the matter before the Court of Justice, which delivers a declaratory judgment on whether the breach exists, Art. 260 Abs. 1 AEUV. Should the State still not comply, a second action under Art. 260 Abs. 2 AEUV can lead the Court to impose a lump sum and a periodic penalty payment; where a directive has not been transposed, such penalties may be sought in the first action itself, Art. 260 Abs. 3 AEUV. A parallel action by one Member State against another exists under Art. 259 AEUV. So the term names a State-directed enforcement procedure with financial teeth, and mistaking infringement for the IP sense misplaces the whole matter.

Typical mistakes

The infringement here is a Member State’s breach of Union law, so the procedure is the Vertragsverletzungsverfahren; rendering it through the intellectual-property Schutzrechtsverletzung puts it in the wrong field.
It runs in two stages, a pre-litigation exchange under Art. 258 AEUV and, if needed, an action before the Court of Justice, so treating it as a single court step understates it.
Non-compliance with the judgment can trigger a lump sum and a penalty payment, Art. 260 Abs. 2 AEUV, so presenting the procedure as toothless is wrong.

What matters

Rendering a Union-enforcement matter against a State, the translation should use Vertragsverletzungsverfahren, set out the pre-litigation stage of Art. 258 AEUV and the possible penalties of Art. 260 AEUV, and keep infringement clear of the intellectual-property Schutzrechtsverletzung. Reading it as an IP dispute or a mere contract breach misplaces the case.

Authority

Art. 258 AEUV
Art. 260 AEUV

What the machine misses

Machine output may render infringement procedure through the intellectual-property sense, as a Schutzrechtsverletzung matter, or as a single court step. It loses that the Vertragsverletzungsverfahren, Art. 258 AEUV, targets a Member State’s breach of Union law, runs a pre-litigation stage before any referral to the Court of Justice, and can end in a lump sum and a penalty payment under Art. 260 AEUV. The rendering misplaces the field and understates the teeth.

See what the machine does with this clause →

Examples

the Commission opened infringement proceedings	die Kommission leitete ein Vertragsverletzungsverfahren ein
a reasoned opinion	eine mit Gründen versehene Stellungnahme
to refer the matter to the Court of Justice	die Sache dem Gerichtshof vorlegen
a penalty payment under Article 260	ein Zwangsgeld nach Artikel 260