THE ONE-STAGE INFRINGEMENT PROCEDURE (ARTICLE 260 (3) TFEU) AND THE IRRELEVANCE OF POLITICAL CRISES IN MEMBER STATES IN THE RECENT CASE LAW OF THE CJEU

The CJEU ruling Commission v Spain of 25 February 2021 combined two different lines of CJEU case-law, culminating in severe sanctions against Spain: On the one hand, the recent judgments on the "one-stage infringement procedure" pursuant to Article 260 (3) TFEU, starting in 2019 with Commission v Belgium, was complemented. On the other hand, the established body of case-law on the irrelevance of "provisions, practices or situations prevailing in the domestic legal order of a Member State" under EU law was unsuccessfully challenged. Thus, the CJEU showed the Member States the limits of invoking national crises in their defence also in "one-stage infringement procedures".