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This paper aims to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the implementation of the European Green Deal and to which extent have the European Union’s green growth and sustainable development goals been incorporated into its COVID-19 Recovery Strategy. The European Union’s Green Deal, a ‘generation defining’ growth strategy, which lays down the strategic pathway of the European Union’s economic development for the upcoming two decades, has been faced with a major challenge shortly after its adoption in December 2019. However, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which has continuously been putting all European Union member states to a harsh challenge during the past year, climate change and the green transition have been at the top of the political agenda in the European Union and have managed to occupy the attention of the mainstream politics and European Union citizens. Furthermore, the unprecedented levels of public financing which have been mobilised due to the pandemic have provided an opportunity for speeding up the green transition, without which the achievement of the Green Deal’s main aims and the fulfilment of the European Union’s obligations under the Paris Agreement would likely be put in question. In order to analyse how the has the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the implementation of the Green Deal, the paper first examines how the member states and the European Union institutions initially reacted to the idea of pursuing the implementation of the Green Deal simultaneously with economic recovery. This is accomplished through an analysis of statements given by the European Union and member state officials and the adopted measures and legislative proposals. The paper then focuses on publicly available data on legislative delays in regard to the implementation of the Green Deal which took place due to the pandemic and concludes that no significant postponements occurred. It subsequently turns to examine which measures have been adopted at the European Union level that link the economic recovery and the green transition. In this regard, special attention is paid to the Recovery and Resilience Facility and its measures aimed at ensuring that member states pursue climate change and environmental objectives in their recovery plans. Given the size of the public investments which will take place in the following years, the paper emphasises the importance of stringent environmental standards in order to ensure that they contribute to the green transition and avoid a fossil fuel lock-in.

In the recently decided case C‐196/13 (Commission v. Italy), the Court of Justice of the European Union has imposed upon Italy record financial sanctions for its breach of European Union environmental law. The judgment, reached through the enforcement proceedings under Article 260.2 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, followed a 2007 infringement ruling establishing that Italy had generally and persistently failed to fulfill its waste management obligations. The present case raises several interesting questions, such as how much progress does a Member State need to make to remedy a general and persistent failure of its obligations, and how to determine the appropriate amount of financial sanctions for such a breach. This case note analyzes the factual and legal background to the case and argues that, given all the circumstances, the Court's judgment can hardly be seen to be surprising.

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This paper is devoted to infringement cases which the European Commission opened in relation to the Republic of Croatia while exercising its role as a "guardian of the Treaties". During the first eight years of its membership in the European Union, the Republic of Croatia has gained valuable experience regarding this instrument of enforcement of European Union law, without paying a steep price in the process. The proceedings under Article 258 TFEU have so far resulted in one judgment against Croatia (Case C-250/18 Commission v Croatia). The volume, timing, duration and outcome of infringement cases against Croatia provide valuable insights into potential litigation risks for future cases and point to lessons which can be drawn for those risks to be mitigated.