Norme intese a conferire diritti ai singoli e tutela risarcitoria di interessi diffusi: una riflessione a margine della sentenza JP c Ministre de la Transition écologique

This Insight takes the Court of Justice’s ruling in JP v Ministre de la Transition écologique and Premier Ministre (case C-61/21) as a starting point to reflect, more broadly, on the interpretation of the first condition of State liability for breaches of EU law, i.e. that the rule breached shall be intended to confer rights on individuals. Most notably, it focuses on the implications of such condition on the use of the Francovich remedy in defence of general or ‘diffuse’ interests and criticises the Court’s sharp distinction between general and individual interests in this context. It also observes how the Court’s recent case law traces a distinction between the scope of substantive protection and that of the action for damages: on the one hand, it ensures broad access to national courts to vindicate general or diffuse interests protected by EU law; on the other hand, it excludes the right to damages when the provision in question is not aimed directly and specifically to protect the interests of the individual.