fisheries
The Jego Quere case illustrates (among other things) the EU’s concern for the conservation of fisheries. France has for a long time (since 1991) not been complying with EU fisheries rules (in particular in relation to ensuring that undersized hake are not sold (cf. Jego Quere, incidentally a firm established in France)) and the Commission just issued a decision imposing a fine on France in respect of its default. The ECJ ruled last year that France should pay a fine and that if it failed to bring its laws into line it would be required to pay an additional fine every 6 months. It is this second six-monthly fine that the Commission has decided must be paid. The Commission explains:
The task of the European Commission was clear: it had to assess whether or not, at the end of the first six-monthly period following the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling of July 2005, France had fully complied with all the obligations under this ruling. The Commission carried out a thorough and rigorous evaluation of the situation regarding the two failings and found that they had not been rectified at that stage. The result is that France will have to pay the financial penalty set by the Court
France apparently plans to challenge the decision.