Francovich v. Italy was a decision of the European Court of Justice

European Court of Justice

The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...

 which established that European Union member states could be liable to pay compensation to individuals who suffered a loss by reason of the member state's failure to transpose

Transposition (law)

The incorporation of international law is the process by international agreements become part of the municipal law of a sovereign state. A country incorporates a treaty by passing domestic legislation that gives effect to the treaty in the national legal system....

 a EU directive into national law. It is sometimes known as the principle of state liability in European Union law

European Union law

European Union law is a body of treaties and legislation, such as Regulations and Directives, which have direct effect or indirect effect on the laws of European Union member states. The three sources of European Union law are primary law, secondary law and supplementary law...

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Decision

The European Court of Justice held that the Italian government had breached its obligations, and was liable to compensate the workers' loss resulting from the breach. The Court further held that the damages for such breaches should be available before national courts, and that to establish state liability on the basis of the failure the implement a directive, claimants must prove that the directive conferred specific rights on them, identifiable in its wording, and that there is a causal link between the state's failure to implement the directive and the loss suffered.

External links

Francovich and Bonifaci v Republic of Italy (Cases C-6 and 9/90) [1991] ECR I-5375