Brussels, 12/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - Member States are still failing to implement many EU Internal Market laws correctly and on time. According to the latest figures released by the European Commission, 131 Directives (around 8.5% of Internal Market Directives) have still not been implemented into national law in every Member State, though the deadlines agreed by the Member States themselves when they adopted the Directives have passed.
Member States, notably Denmark, Spain, Finland and the UK, have organised themselves to ensure that they have a generally good record of implementing Directives on time. Those four countries have again achieved the target set by the European Council of keeping their implementation deficit below 1.5 %. Ireland now also meets the 1.5 % target after more than halving its deficit since May 2003.
France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Greece have persistently had a deficit of more than double the target (with 3.5%, 3.5%, 3.4%, 3.1% and 3.0% respectively). Belgium, whose implementation deficit has almost doubled since May 2003, has joined this group of Member States which is lagging behind (3.5%). It is now late in transposing more than 10 times as many directives as Denmark, which has transposed more directives than any other Member State.
There are also great disparities in the number of infringement proceedings launched against Member States for failing to apply internal market rules. Italy alone, with 146 proceedings, is subject to almost as many proceedings as Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg and Portugal combined. The number of proceedings launched against France (135) is twice as high as for the UK (58).
Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein said: "It is disappointing that some Member States appear to consider that it is acceptable to regularly implement Directives late and to incorrectly apply commonly agreed rules. This is unfair to those Member States that do get laws on to their statute books on time and then apply them properly. It gives rise to a real opportunity cost and so harms the competitiveness of the EU economy. With enlargement imminent, it is important that Member States, both current and new, respect their obligations to implement and apply commonly agreed rules, as the costs of fragmentation will increase significantly in an enlarged EU. It is time Ministers took personal responsibility for their Member State's performance. Ireland's halving of its implementation deficit in only eight months shows what can be done when there is political will and commitment. I also congratulate Denmark and Spain for having improved on their already relatively good records, giving them the best overall performance. Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Greece and Italy simply need to do a lot better."
The Commission will issue an updated set of figures in its next "Internal Market Scoreboard" in July. Given the persistent delays in transposing and implementing EU single market legislation, it is planning to unveil a recommendation in the summer on best practices with regard to transposition.