While COVID-19 has caused major upset across the continent, even during the height of the pandemic the European institutions have pushed ahead with their usual responsibilities.

In the first six months of 2020, 371 new infringement procedures were launched against member states, leading to an increase in pending procedures by 10 percent compared to last October (using data from September 2019). Three quarters of EU countries have in fact seen an increase in procedures, with only six managing to reduce the number of infractions compared to last September.

How the infraction situation has changed

Compared to September 2019, Spain continues to be the country facing the most procedures: 97, to be precise. However, Spain is not alone among the major EU countries facing such a high number of procedures, with Italy and the UK following close behind, both with 92 procedures under way.

Much has happened in the last ten months, with the total number of infringement procedures growing from 1,594 (beginning of September 2019) to 1,761 (end of June 2020). Things have worsened for the UK especially, right in the middle of their slow departure from the EU, and Portugal – where the number of pending procedures has risen by about 46 percent, with the initiation of about thirty new pr