Francovich v Italy

Francovich v Italy
European Court of Justice
Submitted 8 January 1990 Decided 19 November 1991
Full case name	Andrea Francovich and Danila Bonifaci and others v Italian Republic.
Case	C-6/90
CelexID	61990CJ0006
ECLI	ECLI:EU:C:1991:428
Case type	Reference for a preliminary ruling
Chamber	Full court
Nationality of parties	Italy
Procedural history	Pretura di Bassano del Grappa, Sezione lavoro, ordinanza del 30 December 1989, Pretura di Bassano del Grappa, Sezione lavoro, sentenza del 9 July 1992 3 August 1992 (273/92), Pretura circondariale di Bassano del Grappa, sentenza del 9 December 1993 (162/93), Pretura circondariale di Bassano del Grappa, ordinanza del 21 March 1995 (839 RG 162/93), Pretura di Vicenza, Sezione lavoro, ordinanza del 9 July 1989 10 July 1989 (1186/89), Pretura circondariale di Vicenza, Sezione lavoro, ordinanza del 16 December 1993 (206/93 (1186/89))
Ruling
1. The provisions of Council Directive 80/987/EEC of 20 October 1980 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer which determine the rights of employees must be interpreted as meaning that the persons concerned cannot enforce those rights against the State before the national courts where no implementing measures are adopted within the prescribed period; 2. A Member State is required to make good loss and damage caused to individuals by failure to transpose Directive 80/987/EEC.
Court composition
Judge-Rapporteur Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias
Advocate General Jean Mischo

Francovich v Italy (1991) C-6/90 was a decision of the European Court of Justice 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 an EU directive into national law. This principle is sometimes known as the principle of state liability or "the rule in Francovich" in European Union law.^[1]