European Court of Justice fines Spain $3.4m

The end result of a three-year legal struggle to liberalize Spanish ports, the lump sum fine of $3.4 million was significantly less than what was first decreed in 2014.    The European Union Court of Justice (CJEU) is subjecting Spain to a fine of 3 million euros (U.S. $3.4 million) for its delay in deregulating the country’s port industry.
   Industrial strike action by dockworkers was planned for June and July in response to Spain’s vote against liberalization of the sector, but was called off two weeks ago.
   CJEU noted that Spain had showed “goodwill in cooperating” with the European Commission during the investigation, but the country failed to deregulate the goods handling sector in Spanish ports for 29 months after the first EU order.
   The EU first urged Spain to deregulate in December of 2014, stating the nation was failing to comply with European stowage rules. The European Commission called for a fine of 134,107.2 euros a day that Spain neglected to deregulate the ports, however, CJEU ultimately ruled to impose a fine of 27,552 euros per day instead.
   As the Spanish government passed new legislation regulating port stowage services, which in turn worsened labor conditions for dockworkers, the fine was delayed. The end result is the CJEU announcing a a lump sum fine of three million euros, equivalent to an 108-day delay.
   Additionally, the European Commission has decided on Thursday to refer Spain to the CJEU for failure to implement EU rules on whistle-blowers. The 2014 rule on whistle-blowers is in response to infringements of the Market Abuse Regulation and requires nations to protect whistle-blowers and personal data. Spain is one several member states that missed the initial deadline of July 2016 to implement the new rule.