To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 1 February (WA 6), what is the severest sanction that the European Union can impose on member states which refuse to pay fines after further infraction proceedings under articles 258 and 260 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union have been unsuccessful. [HL1867]

For serious and persistent breaches the European Union “may decide to suspend certain of the rights deriving from the application of the Treaties to the Member State in question, including the voting rights of the representative of the government of that Member State in the Council” (Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union).