22.5.2023

Official Journal of the European Union

C 179/22

(Case C-214/23)

(2023/C 179/32)

Language of the case: Danish

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: J. Samnadda and C. Vang, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Kingdom of Denmark

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should

—declare that the Kingdom of Denmark has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 29 of Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC, (1) by failing to adopt, by 7 June 2021 at the latest, all of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the directive, or in any event, by failing to inform the Commission of those laws, regulations and administrative provisions;

—order the Kingdom of Denmark to pay the Commission a lump sum of EUR 3 642 per day from the day after the deadline for implementation of the directive, namely 8 June 2021, and until the day that the failure to fulfil obligations comes to an end, or, failing compliance, the date of the delivery of the judgment in the present case, and not less than EUR 1 456 000;

—if the failure to fulfil obligations referred to in paragraph 1 is established by the Court and continues after the judgment is delivered in the present case, order the Kingdom of Denmark to pay the Commission a penalty payment in the amount of EUR 21 840 for each day of delay from the date of delivery of the judgment until the date the Kingdom of Denmark fulfils its obligations under the Directive;

—order the Kingdom of Denmark to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC updates the copyright rules in order to take account of the digital technologies that have transformed the way creative content is produced, distributed and accessed. It is apparent from Article 29(1) of the directive, that that directive is to be transposed into national law by 7 June 2021, and that the Member States are immediately to inform the Commission thereof.

The Kingdom of Denmark has not fulfilled that obligation. On 24 June 2021 the Kingdom of Denmark communicated to the Commission its transposition of Articles 15 and 17 of the Directive, but not its transposition of the rest of the directive. Therefore, on 23 July 2021, the Commission sent Denmark a letter of formal notice. On 24 September 2021, the Danish Government replied to the letter of formal notice and acknowledged that the directive had not been fully transposed into Danish law. On 19 May 2022, the Commission sent Denmark a reasoned opinion, to which the Danish Government replied on 30 June 2022. In the reply, the Danish Government indicated that the directive still had not been transposed in full into Danish law. The Danish Government last indicated in March 2023 that the Kingdom of Denmark still had not adopted all the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the directive.

The directive was adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and the case therefore comes within the scope of Article 260(3) TFEU. Denmark has not fulfilled the obligation set out in Article 29 of the directive to bring into force all the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the directive by 7 June 2021 and to immediately inform the Commission thereof. The conditions for the application of Article 260(3) TFEU are therefore satisfied.

Against that background, the Commission calls on the Court to order the Kingdom of Denmark to pay a lump sum and penalty payments pursuant to Article 260(3) TFEU, and to set those sanctions in accordance with the Commission’s communication on economic sanctions in infringement procedures.

(1) OJ 2019 L 130, p. 92.