Judgment_paragraph 63 · European Commission v Ireland (C-550/18)

63Indeed, the authors of Article 260(3) TFEU not only provided that it is for the Commission to specify ‘the amount of the lump sum or penalty payment to be paid’ by the Member State in question, but also made clear that the Court may only impose a financial penalty payment ‘not exceeding the amount specified’ by the Commission. They therefore established a direct correlation between the penalty sought by the Commission and the penalty that may be imposed by the Court under Article 260(3) TFEU.