The EU, the Member States and Damages Liability

This chapter examines the damages liability of the EU and Member States pursuant to the Treaties. It is a topic of considerable intellectual and practical interest. Damages liability, in conjunction with review, constitutes one of the two principal mechanisms for holding public actors to account. The ECJ crafted the rules pertaining to both EU and Member State liability and had considerable freedom when doing so, given that the Treaty provided very limited substantive guidance. The ensuing discussion identifies the main features that guided judicial thinking in this area.