Judgment_paragraph 49 · Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri and Others v Gianni Pantuso and Others (C-616/16, C-617/16)

49It is sufficient to recall that the Court of Justice has repeatedly held that if the result prescribed by that directive cannot be achieved by way of interpretation, by taking account of the entirety of domestic law and applying the methods of interpretation recognised by it, EU law requires the Member States to make good damage caused to individuals through failure to transpose that directive, provided that three conditions are fulfilled: the rule of law infringed is intended to confer rights on individuals and the content of those rights can be identified; the breach is sufficiently serious; and there is a direct causal link between the breach of the State’s obligation and the damage suffered by the persons affected (see, to that effect, judgment of 25 February 1999, Carbonari and Others, C‑131/97, EU:C:1999:98, paragraph 52).