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As part of the implementation of EU law, Member States often have to adopt and enforce penalties against those who infringe EU law. To ensure that there is no enforcement deficit, the Court has adopted some requirements for national penalties, namely that they should be non-discriminatory, effective, proportionate and dissuasive. The article analyses how these requirements have been used by the Court not only to set a minimum standard for when enforcement is appropriate (non-discriminatory, effective and dissuasive), but also to set a maximum standard for determining when penalties are either discriminatory or disproportionate. It is concluded that the Court has been more successful in setting precise maximum standards than precise minimum standards. Consequently, the standards intended to prevent enforcement deficits have proved better at ensuring the protection of individuals. Furthermore, it is concluded that the tendency to harmonise the penalties in greater detail may be justified as long as the harmonisation efforts are directed at setting the minimum standards for the penalties that the Member States must adopt and enforce.
